Take Me or Leave Me
by dancinequestrian
Summary: Hermione is the creator of a famous fashion line, while Draco is still the rich playboy he was at school. They both hate each other, but what happens when they are both given guardianship of a 3-month old baby? DMHG! Complete! Edit in Progress!
1. Chapter 1

A.N. Hi everyone! This is my very first time writing a fanfic so I hope you like it!

Full Summary: Hermione is the creator of a famous fashion line, while Draco is still the rich playboy he was at school. They both hate each other, but what happens when they are both given guardianship of a 3-month old baby? Can they get over their hatred for each other to work together? Will Draco and Hermione be able to handle it?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1:

"Make sure all the models and the wardrobe are ready for the next shoot. I should be back soon Lizzie! And don't forget to relax while I'm gone," Hermione Granger told her assistant, who was frantically scribbling down everything she said. Hermione was going back to London to visit her old friend and business partner Blaise Zabini.

Hermione had her own fashion line and magazine, which came as a surprise to all her friends. Who would've thought that Hermione Granger, Miss Know-It-All and bookworm extraordinaire, the girl that wore the baggy clothes and wasn't really all that attractive, would be a designer? But the truth to the matter was, she had changed. A lot. Her once bushy hair had been tamed and now fell in luxurious waves across her back, and she wore clothes that fitted her well, making her look like a true model- not those anorexic ones, mind you.

Hermione stepped into the fireplace and yelled out "Zabini Enterprises!"

Within seconds, Hermione appeared in the fireplace of Blaise's office. She stepped out coughing and dusting herself off, only to be met with an oh-so wonderful sight. (Note the sarcasm here.)

Hermione groaned inwardly. She hadn't seen him in four years and had hoped not to run into him, even though he was Blaise's best friend. She could tell that he didn't recognize her – the smirk and hungry look on his face proved that his brain wasn't processing the sight before him. It was quite another part of his body that was doing that.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Blaise never mentioned that he was expecting the company of a beautiful girl like you. I'm Draco Malfoy by the way. Why don't you forget about whatever you're here to see Blaise for, and get to know me a little better?" He said in what he must have thought was a seductive tone.

Hermione decided to play along. "Well I would love to but-"

She was cut off by Blaise's entrance.

"Hermione!" Blaise yelled.

"Blaisey!" Hermione exclaimed. She ran to hug Blaise while discretely watching for Draco's reaction. She saw him finally registering this scene before him, and started laughing as his eyes widened comically and he almost fell out of his chair.

"G-Granger?" Malfoy sputtered.

"Yes, Malfoy. It's me, Granger. Surprised?"

"W-What are _you _doing here? And since when have you and Blaise been on nickname-y terms?" Malfoy asked, still disturbed by the fact that he had been hitting on Hermione Granger.

"Blaise and I have been friends – a concept I know you're not familiar with – since fourth year. We had to work on an Arithmancy project together and it all just snowballed from there. And I'm here now to confirm the fabrics for my fashion line."

Malfoy burst out laughing. "That's funny Granger! I thought you just said you had a fashion line."

"I did. It's called Royalty." Hermione said smugly and smirked as she named her prestigious company.

Draco nearly fainted. "B-But it's the only line of robes that my mother will buy. It's the most popular line among Pureblood high society. And you're just a Muggleborn – a Mudblood."

"Well it's nice to know that you haven't changed at all Malfoy!" Hermione spat. "But I guess it's just hard for you to believe that a _**Mudblood**_ like me can be so successful and be almost as rich as you, without _Daddy's_ money.

"Now see here Granger-…" Malfoy interrupted.

As Hermione and Draco drabbled on, Blaise was watching the scene before him with a smirk on his face. _Now this is interesting_, Blaise thought. _You can practically feel the sexual tension just oozing from the two of them_. _I should do something about this._ Maybe I should just lock them in a room and force them to make out or have sex just to shut them both up for good.

He must have said this aloud for Hermione and Draco both glared at Blaise and exclaimed, "What!"

"Oh nothing. Nothing at all! Just carry on," Blaise said before he ran out of the room. His two best friends ran after him, ready to strangle him. He ran into a supply closet and locked the door, listening as Draco and Hermione yelled out his name as they searched for him. After about ten minutes, he heard them approaching, and boldly decided to step out of the closet, ready to face the two people who were not afraid to hurt him very, very badly.

**Edited 12/22/10 – I wrote this story a few years ago, so my writing isn't the greatest or most developed in this story, and at times, this story can seem a little juvenile. I am working on editing, so please bear with me.**

A.N. So here's the first chapter! I hope you liked it. I wasn't very happy with the ending but whatever. This was just mainly for background info and stuff so I'll put up another chapter soon! Please read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. Hey everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm glad you guys like it so far. So here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 2:

"Blaise Zabini!" Hermione Granger yelled as he stepped out of the supply closet. Other employees were watching the scene with interest, so Hermione yanked him by the ear into his office, Draco following close behind. "What the hell did you mean by that?"

"Nothing! OUCH! Mia!" Blaise exclaimed as Hermione pulled his ear again. "OK! I'm sorry! Look, both of you just listen. NO touching!" He said as Hermione's hand threatened to move from her side.

"Look, you guys never shut the hell up! Whenever you guys are around each other, no matter how long it has been since you've last seen each other, you have to jump down each other's throats! I was just trying to help you guys out," Blaise said innocently.

Hermione glared at him. "You know very well that he's the one that initiates these stupid fights. And by the way, make a sly little comment like that again, and I will personally kill you. Got it? Good. Come on. We have work to do." She started walking out the door.

Blaise turned to Malfoy. "Drake, you can either come with us or leave." Hermione turned around at the door and gave Draco a death glare. Draco looked slightly scared and still scarred from their encounter as he stepped into the fireplace. He took some Floo powder and shouted, "Malfoy Manor!"

"Come now Mia. Let's just be mature adults and forget about this whole incident and just get down to business," Blaise said, swallowing nervously and offering Hermione his arm.

DHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDH

After Hermione's meeting with Blaise, she flooed to the loft she kept in London. She set down her briefcase and portfolio and went to the kitchen to make some coffee. As she did so, her fireplace emitted a beeping sound, signaling she had visitors.

Ginny Potter stepped out of the fireplace along with their good friend Madison Carter. Hermione and Ginny had met Madison while living in New York after Hogwarts. Madison had gone on to become a model for Hermione, but had later decided to get married and settle down away from the chaotic world of fashion.

"Ginny! Maddie!" Hermione ran over to hug them. "What are you guys doing here? Maddie, shouldn't you be in bed? You're due in a month!" Hermione ushered the couch.

"We wanted to see you! It's been a month since we've last seen you! I hope we're not intruding Mia," Maddie said.

"Oh no! Definitely not! I was just going to come home and relax after the day I just had. You wouldn't believe who I saw today, Ginny!"

This peaked Ginny's curiosity. "Someone from New York? Or someone from school?" Ginny asked.

"Drum roll please… The Amazing Bouncing Ferret!"

"Oh no!" Ginny groaned.

"Oh yes! Does God hate me or something?"

"Oh God Mia! Please don't tell me you blew up Blaise's office or something!" Ginny said.

"Ok. Hold up! Who is this Amazing Bouncing Ferret?" Maddie interrupted.

"So he was this really hot guy at school –" Ginny started.

"- No he wasn't. Anyways, he made my life a living hell –" Hermione continued.

"- Yeah, he always picked on her – "

"- He hated my guts for no apparent reason –"

"- But I say he was secretly in love with her." Ginny finished.

"Yeah – wait, WHAT?" Hermione yelled.

Ginny grinned triumphantly as Maddie burst out laughing.

Hermione glared at them but continued on with the story. "So anyways, you know I was at Blaise's to confirm the fabrics for my new line. But there Malfoy was, at the desk smirking at me with this weird look on his face. I-I kind of think he might have been hitting on me," Hermione muttered quickly.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Ginny asked, pretending she hadn't heard.

"I think he might have been h-hitting on me," Hermione repeated quickly.

"Way to go Hermione! The Slytherin Sex God is lusting after you!" Ginny said, smirking.

"Ginny! He's not _lusting_ after me. He just thought I was some bimbo he thought he could get into bed or something. And that's not necessarily a good thing!" Hermione added as she saw the look that crossed Ginny's face.

"What? He's hot! And seriously Hermione, when was the last time you had a date? You have to get rid of these childhood grudges! If someone's hitting on you and he's hot, go for it! Live a little, Hermione." Ginny said.

"I am not discussing my love life with you anymore! I LOATHE Draco Malfoy and I will NEVER date him!" Hermione swore.

_Draco Malfoy?_ Maddie thought. _Interesting. Very Interesting._

**Edited: 12/23/10. By the way, I got a couple of reviews saying that this story was like the movie Life as We Know It, which recently came out. If you look at the publish date for this story, you'll notice that it was a little over two years ago. So I did not take this plotline from the movie. Thanks. **

A.N. So there's the second chapter. Please Read and Review! Even though nothing really happened here, it is an important chapter. I promise something big will happen in the next couple of chapters! And I will probably update once a week, but I have finals in like a week so I might not be able to for the next week. We'll see!


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. Hey everyone! Finals are finally over! Thank God! I'll try to update as much as I can! And thanks for all the reviews!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 3:

One week had passed since Hermione's encounter with Draco. She had decided to stay in London for a while, at least until Maddie had her baby. She was scrolling through her emails on her phone when the Floo signal went off, distracting her from her work. Ginny stepped out from the fireplace, seemingly in a hurry and out of breath.

"Mia! Maddie…Mungos…Theo… for you…" Ginny said, trying to catch her breath.

"What! Ginny, calm down and breathe!" Hermione said, slightly worried.

"Maddie's having her baby! Theo told me to come get you. Maddie's asking for you!" Ginny finally got out.

"But she's not due for another couple of weeks!"

"I know, honey, but the baby's coming NOW and Theo would really appreciate it if you could talk some reason into Maddie when she's shouting insults at him." Ginny said.

Hermione grabbed her coat and stepped into the fireplace with Ginny. As soon as they arrived at St. Mungos, Ginny quickly led Hermione to Maddie's hospital room. Upon entering, they were initially met with the sight of Theo sitting on a chair on the other side of the room, while Maddie was on the bed, groaning and clutching her stomach in pain.

"Hermione! Ginny!" Theo jumped up from his chair. "Thank God you're here! She won't let me go near her!"

"Calm down Theo," Hermione said. "She might let you near her if I'm there to soothe and comfort her. Just give her a little bit of space, at least until the baby's totally ready to come." Theo nodded mutely.

Hermione walked to Maddie's side. "Hey sweetie, it'll be over soon. Just relax," She cooed soothingly while pushing away strands of stray hair from her forehead. Just then, a nurse walked in to check on her.

"Well, Mrs. Carter, you're fully dilated and ready to push. The doctor will be with you in a few minutes. Just relax."

Hermione looked at Maddie. "This is it!" Hermione whispered.

"Oh Mia! I'm so scared! What if the baby's unhealthy or weak? She's almost a month early!"

"Shh. It's okay honey. She's going to be perfectly healthy. There have been babies born even more prematurely than this little one will be and they turned out perfectly healthy. Everything will be fine," Hermione said soothingly.

Just then, a Healer entered the room, followed by the nurse who had checked on her earlier. "Ok, Mrs. Carter. It's time for you to push!"

Maddie doubled over and clutched her stomach as another contraction gripped her. Theo started to make his way to the bed until Maddie yelled, "Don't even think about it, you horny bastard!" Theo, taken aback, fell back into his chair with a thump.

DHDHDHDH

After what seemed like hours of incessant screaming, Theo walked over to Maddie's side to hold his baby. "Theo honey, I'm sorry about all the things I said. You know I didn't mean anything by them." She reached up and lightly kissed him.

Theo nodded absently as he gazed down at the little child that was his. It seemed almost surreal to him that he was a father.

"We need a name," Maddie quietly reminded him. "I think you should pick it, especially since I kept you away this whole time."

Theo nodded again, and paused for a minute. "Let's name her Haley."

"Haley Alisa Carter it is," Maddie confirmed.

DHDHDHDH

Hermione and Ginny had left the room in order to give the new family some privacy. They were sitting in a lounge close to the room, talking.

"Mia, don't you think it's time for you to settle down yet?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny, we are not having this conversation again. I haven't found the right person yet. And the company is doing so well right now, I don't think it's time for me to leave it to someone else yet."

"Oh Mia – " Ginny cut off when she saw Theo waving frantically to them, motioning for them to come into the room.

"We have decided to call her Haley Alisa Carter," Maddie announced.

"It's beautiful!" Hermione said. "And she's beautiful Maddie! Congratulations, you two." She went over to hug the two of them.

Just then, her beeper sounded off. "Well you guys, I'm going to have to leave right now. I'll visit you tomorrow, Maddie." She kissed her and Theo's cheeks and the baby's miniscule hand. "Bye!"

As Hermione walked down the hallway, she was greeted by an ugly sight.

"Not again!" Hermione groaned. "Malfoy, what the hell are you doing here? Are you following me?"

"Oh yes, Granger. I'm going to follow you - a good for nothing Muggleborn. And as for what am I doing here, I'm here to laugh at all the women going through this excruciating pain because they got knocked up. What do you think I'm doing here, Granger? I'm visiting a friend of mine." Malfoy said sarcastically.

"I hate you!" Hermione hissed.

"Well I loathe you!" Malfoy retorted.

"I am _not _going to fight with you right now. It is a happy day and I am not going to let you ruin it." Hermione walked away, discretely pointing her wand at his back, causing him to start itching in all the right (or wrong) places.

**Edited 1/2/2011.**

A/N: So there's the third chapter! I hope you like it! I wasn't really happy with the ending though. Please Read and Review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey everyone

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks to all who reviewed! I'm really sorry about the wait; I've been really busy! If you haven't already, check out my other story "A History of Magic" and review! So here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 4:

A month had passed since Haley's birth and Hermione was back in New York. She was swamped with work: she had to find a new model since one of them had decided to get high and land herself in the hospital, finish her drawings for her new line for a presentation with Macy's the next day, and approve that month's issue of the magazine. She knew she wouldn't be leaving the office any time soon, so she stocked up on her coffee and food for the rest of the night. Hermione was going through portfolios of models when someone knocked on her door.

"Hermione, it's me, Blaise. And Weaslette's husband."

Hermione got up to open the door. Blaise and Harry immediately gave her hugs.

"Hermione! It's so good to see you!" Harry said, releasing her from his hug. "How've you been?"

"I've been great, Harry. Just really busy. How about you? How's Ginny?"

"We're doing good, Mia. It's feels like so long since you've come around though. You have to visit more-"

Blaise interrupted Harry. "I know this is supposed to be a touching reunion between two best friends who haven't seen each other in a week, but have you guys forgotten about someone? You know, a tall, dark, handsome, sexy, and hott Slytherin?"

"Umm, no?" Hermione said, pretending to be confused.

Blaise scowled. "Oh, come on Blaise! I'm just kidding! I've missed you! How could I ever forget you, you lovable Slytherin?"

"Just lovable? Not hot or sexy or handsome?"

"Don't push it, Blaisey. I love you, but not in that way," Hermione replied. "Moving on… So what brings you two here?"

"We just wanted to check on you, Mia," Harry said. "Make sure you're not overworking yourself, which you seem to be doing now, by the way." He looked pointedly at her desk.

"I own a fashion line, Harry. It's a chaotic world. I knew this when I started it." Hermione yawned.

"See, Hermione! It's only 9:30 and you're exhausted." Blaise pointed out.

"You guys are sweet to come here and check up on me, but really, I'm fine!"

"Ok, Mia. We're going to take your word on this, this time." Harry said meaningfully.

"Thank you, you guys. Now if you'll excuse me, I have tons and tons of work to do, which will keep me up for a while, so-,"

"Yes, of course." Harry and Blaise stood up from their chairs and headed towards the door.

"By the way Mia, what happened that day you ran into Malfoy at the hospital?" Blaise asked. "It seems that right after he talked to you, something weird happened."

"Oh, I kind of… cast a spell that would… make him… itch in all the… worst places." Hermione said.

"You did WHAT?!" Harry burst out laughing.

"Mia," Blaise shook his head, "Why can't the two of you ever get along?"

"He was being a prick!" Hermione said defensively.

"Hermione, I…can't believe… you did that," Harry said, trying to regain his breath from laughing so hard. "You are my hero! You really need to teach me that spell!"

"It was pretty funny, especially when he started scratching his crotch. All the women in the maternity ward thought he was some kind of perverted hobo." At this, even Blaise started laughing, although he had been trying his hardest to defend his best friend.

"You, Hermione, are a piece of work." Blaise shook his head, smiling. "Anyways, we'll leave you alone, Mia. We'll see you tomorrow at my dinner party. It is crucial you are there, especially since it's your clients that are going to be there.

"Ok, Blaise. Bye, you guys," she hugged both of them, and kissed their cheeks.

As soon as they got out of the door, Blaise asked, "Do you reckon I should have told her about the party?"

"Not unless you're suicidal. Actually, either way, she'll kill you. But if you just spring it on her tomorrow, in public, you're buying time. If you had told her now, she would have killed you, where there are absolutely no witnesses and no defenses."

"Yeah, good thinking, mate." Blaise nodded, slightly worried.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

The next day, Hermione was exhausted. She had been up all night finishing all the work. She was still in her office; still in the clothes she had been wearing the previous day. She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes momentarily.

"Hermione, Lisa wants to know if the magazine is okay for publishing-," Lizzy, Hermione's assistant asked.

"Hermione, have you been here all night?"

"Maybe," Hermione replied.

"Hermione, as your assistant and your friend, I am telling you to go home and get some rest! You are overworking yourself! If you don't slow down, you are going to wear yourself out. Then who would be here to run this business? Go home!" Lizzy persuaded her.

"Yeah, I think I will. Thanks Lizzy. Tell Lisa that the magazine is good to go. Schedule interviews with the three models on this list, and postpone my Macy's presentation. Just tell them something important came up. I'll see you later, Lizzy." Hermione grabbed her coat and briefcase and made her way to her car. She couldn't wait to jump onto her soft bed and snuggle up into her soft, cozy covers.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Hermione awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. She groaned and put her pillows over her head, trying to block out the noise. After a while, she finally decided to pick up.

"Hello?" Hermione said groggily and grumpily.

"Mia! I will be over in ten minutes by Floo!" Ginny's voice said.

"Gin, what are you talking about?" Hermione asked.

"Oh Mia, don't tell me you forgot about Blaise's party?"

"Shit! It totally slipped my mind. I was up all night working and I came home to take a short nap, but I slept the entire day! It's already 6:00!"

"Ok, calm down Mia! You're lucky that Blaise is having his dinner party in New York, otherwise you would have missed it completely! I'll be right over to help you get dressed!" With that, Hermione hung up the phone and got out of bed, intensely craving some coffee.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

"May I take your coat, madam?" A servant asked as Hermione stepped into Blaise's luxurious house in Westchester.

Hermione took off her coat while searching for Ginny or Harry, but finally spotted Blaise.

"Blaise!" Hermione gave him a hug. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I kind of overslept," she said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it Mia!" Blaise said. "I have a confession to make. This isn't a business party." He bit his lip.

"Okay, and you're telling me this because…?" Hermione asked.

"I just wanted you to be aware that-," Blaise was cut off by another voice.

"Well, Well, Well, who do we have here? Blaise and ah, Mudblood, it's so horrible to see you again." Malfoy said.

"It's always painful to see you too, you butt-faced miscreant." Hermione retorted. "Blaise," she said sweetly, "can I talk to you for a moment."

She pulled him over to a corner.

"What the hell is he doing here? You know we want to kill each other every time we see each other." Hermione hissed.

"Mia, it's a dinner party and he's my best friend. I couldn't not invite him. And this was kind of what I was trying to warn you about. And plus, they say that boys only pick on girls they like." Blaise said.

"Pick on? This is what you call it? The insults and attempts to kill each other? We're just picking on each other?" Hermione asked, disbelievingly. "You are out of your mind, Blaise Zabini."

Blaise prayed for his life as Hermione turned to talk to someone else.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

"Dinner is served," a servant announced at 8:30 sharp.

"Mia, may I escort you to the dining room?" Blaise asked chivalrously.

"Yes, you may, Blaise." With that, she tucked her arm into his.

Hermione looked around for her name card. She saw that it was right next to Blaise and Harry. She felt a sense of relief; that is until Draco Malfoy took the seat across from her.

Hermione glared at him, while Draco smirked. Blaise and Harry also took their seats. "Blaise," Hermione said with a smile on her face, yet with her teeth gritted.

"Yes, Hermione?" He replied, not sensing Hermione's anger.

"You must truly feel suicidal tonight."

"No, not really. Why do you say that?" Blaise said, tugging at his collar.

"You didn't seem fit to warn me that this asshole would be here tonight and you decided to seat him right in front of me?" Hermione hissed.

"Um, yeah…you see… it's like this…," Blaise stammered.

"We need to talk later, Blaise," Hermione said, thoroughly taking pleasure in the look of fear that flashed on his face.

"So Granger, how's your business going?" Malfoy asked, quite civilly.

"I'm sorry? What did you just ask me and why?" Hermione spat, not sure if she heard him correctly.

"I just asked how the business was going, Granger. No need to get your panties in a twist." Malfoy said casually.

"You are being civil to me, and you don't expect me to get suspicious? A bit of an oversight on your part, don't you think?"

"I've decided to turn over a new leaf."

"Uh-huh. From ten minutes ago?" She asked disbelievingly.

"Well, yes. I do believe I have been quite cruel in the past, especially to you."

"What the hell is going on?" Hermione whispered, completely confused.

"I might have put a spell on him, just so that you two would be civil to each other for an hour or so. It should wear off soon though." Blaise said hesitantly.

"I'm not totally suicidal, Mia."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Music was playing in the background and all of the couples were dancing. Even Blaise had found someone to dance with. Draco and Hermione were the only ones without a partner and were sitting off to the side. Hermione was answering emails; Draco sitting contentedly, watching the loving couples dance.

"May I have this dance?" Harry offered his hand to Hermione. Ginny took Hermione's seat.

"You looked lonely. And you are being totally anti-social, missy. You're on your phone 24/7! Give it to me and go dance with your best friend," Ginny said, her hand stretched out. "Give it!"

Hermione reluctantly handed over her phone and followed Harry onto the dance floor.

"May I cut in?" A voice asked. Hermione and Harry turned to see Malfoy standing behind them.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked disbelievingly.

"It's okay, Harry. I'll deal with this." Hermione said as she started dancing with Malfoy.

"I'm guessing the spell hasn't worn off yet," Hermione mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Malfoy asked.

"Never mind. I guess that's a yes." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why do you hate me so much?" She whispered.

"I was jealous." Malfoy answered. "You had everything I didn't. You had parents that cared about you; the brains, even though you didn't come from a wizarding family; you had friends and admirers. Has anyone ever told you that you are extremely beautiful?"

Hermione eyes widened as she looked up at him. "What-" She was cut off by her lips being pressed to hers. She slowly sank into the kiss, but realized what she was doing. She broke the kiss and slapped him across the face. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Malfoy? Under a spell or not-,"

"Ouch! What the hell was that for, Granger?" A dark shadow seemed to have passed across his blue-grey eyes, which told Hermione that the spell had worn off.

"You tell me, you son of a-," Malfoy pointed his wand at her. By then, everyone around them had stopped dancing to watch the scene before them.

"You kissed me!" Malfoy said disgustedly, wiping his mouth.

"You kissed me!" Hermione yelled back. "How about this, Malfoy. We pretend this never happened and never come near each other again! Deal?"

"Deal!" He gave her a nasty glare and walked away.

Seconds later, Draco turned around and Hermione shot a stunning spell at him before he could react. He fell to the floor with a loud thump, the onlookers thinking that Malfoy thoroughly deserved it. Hermione shot another spell at him and walked to the bathroom. She closed the door and leaned against it, sinking to the ground as she did so.

She was such a goner.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Minutes later, Hermione stormed out of the bathroom. "Blaise Zabini! You are sooo screwed!"

A/N: I wasn't really happy with it. It was kind of a pointless chapter. Anyways, Please Read and Review! And don't forget to check out my other story, A History of Magic! Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. My junior year started a few weeks ago and it is hell! But here it is… Oh and I know that in the 4th book, Hermione said she never really liked horses but ignore that. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Chapter 5:

Hermione stormed out of the bathroom angrily, on a mission. She spotted Blaise sipping a martini, talking to some guests as if his two best friends hadn't just tried to kill each other.

"Blaisey, come here for a moment," Hermione said sweetly.

She pulled him into the nearest room.

"Screw you Blaise Zabini!" Hermione yelled.

"I know you want to Mia, but honestly, you don't have to tell the whole world," He nervously joked as he closed the door. (A/N: I'm really sorry for that. That kind of crashed and burned. Lol)

Hermione looked even more enraged as she backed him up against the wall. "All I can say now is watch out Blaise Zabini! You are not going to be the same after I'm through with you.

She let him go and walked out of the room.

DMHGDMHGDMHGDMHG

The weeks passed by quickly and Hermione had yet to strike. She was getting amused as Blaise's anticipation and worry grew and when he jumped every time she came near. She had a plan, but it was way too soon to carry it out.

As Hermione stepped out of her car, she closed her eyes and inhaled the scents of oiled leather, dirt and manure, and hay. She listened to the clicking and clacking of horses' hooves on the pavement and the spurs of the riders, and the neighing of the horses that were galloping freely in the pastures. This was her safe haven - a place to relax and get away from all the stress in her life.

"It's a bit dangerous to be standing in the middle of parking lot with your eyes closed, don't you think?" a man's voice whispered in her ear.

Hermione jumped and opened her eyes. She saw a tall, brown haired man with startling green eyes, standing next to her. He had sharp and chiseled features, and was wearing a tight fitting white t-shirt that was tucked into his riding breeches and outlined his toned body.

"Oh my goodness! Jason! You scared me!" she said, putting her hand to her chest and chuckling nervously.

"I'm sorry Hermione, but you should really get out of the parking lot before you get run over."

"Yes, yes, you're right. Thank you." She locked her car and walked with Jason to the barn.

"So Hermione, what are your plans for today?"

"Oh, I'm going to exercise my horses a little bit and take them over some jumps, and I have a new student coming for a lesson later in the day. And I have a show coming up so I have to prepare for that…"

"Go to dinner with me tonight," Jason blurted out.

"What?" Hermione asked, clearly taken aback.

"Go out with me tonight. We'll grab some dinner, maybe catch a movie or take a stroll around the park- whatever you want. It'll be a great way to unwind after such a busy day."

"Well-" Hermione started.

"Look, I really like you Hermione and I would really like to get to know you a little better – " Jason said earnestly.

"Jason, let me finish. Yes."

"What?" Jason asked, looking for confirmation.

"Yes I will go out with you tonight."

A look of satisfaction crossed his face. "Great! I'll pick you up around 8:00ish so that you have time to wash up after this. I'll see you then!" Jason walked away.

Hermione headed to one of the stalls that was facing the riding arena in the main barn, thinking about her date for tonight. She was flattered. Jason was one of the top riders in the country and he liked _her_! And it didn't hurt that he was _very_ attractive either.

She came to a stop in front of a stall labeled, "Hunter's Ransom".

"Ransom! Hey, boy! Come here, boy!" she clucked her tongue.

Just then, a beautiful, tall bay horse poked his head out of the stall. He butted her in the chest with his nose and nickered when he saw her.

"Hi there, you silly goose! We have a lot to do today! Let's get you ready, boy," she cooed to him as she opened his stall and put his halter on. She led Ransom to an area that was out of the way of everyone else and tied him up. She walked to the tack room (A/N: a room where they keep saddles, grooming supplies, bridles, etc.) and got everything she needed. Fifteen minutes later, Ransom was ready to go. Hermione put her gloves on, grabbed her whip and helmet, and mounted Ransom.

She started riding up one of the more private trails to warm him up before going into the arena. As she was riding Ransom, who was slowly meandering up the hill, Hermione saw two people, a little girl and a man, coming down the trail who looked like they were lost.

"Hi! Can I help you with something? You are not supposed to be up here unless you are a rider or someone who boards their horse here," Hermione said kindly.

"Oh, we're very sorry, ma'am," the little girl said. She had riding boots and breeches on, and had a helmet in her hand. She also had long, blonde hair and bluish-grey eyes. She couldn't have been more than 10 years old. "We got lost. I am actually a new student here and I was looking for my instructor."

"And who might that be, my dear child?"

"Um, Mia G-."

"What's your name, dear?" Hermione interrupted.

"Cassandra Howard."

"Oh, yes! Cassandra! I am Mia, your instructor." Hermione dismounted Ransom and took off her helmet. "It's so nice to meet you."

"Wait a minute!" the man in the hat with Cassandra said. "Granger? You're the nationally ranked rider and trainer that I've heard so much about?" He took off his had. "I can't believe this."

"Oh, dear God! Why?" Hermione muttered to herself. "Malfoy," she acknowledged him with a nod of her head. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm visiting some family. Cassandra is my niece."

"Wait a minute! You two know each other?" Cassandra asked.

"Erm, yes." Malfoy said.

"We…went to school together," Hermione continued.

Cassandra turned to Draco. "She has been my idol ever since I started riding, and only now I find out that you know her. Thanks a lot Uncle Drake."

"Ok, well, since you're here early, we might as well get your lesson started. I understand you have quite a bit of experience with horses and riding."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

After the lesson, Hermione showed Cassandra where the tack room and Ransom's stall were located. She walked to another stall and brought out another horse, and tied it up next to Ransom.

"Beautiful horse," Malfoy commented. "Great conformation."

Hermione stopped and stared. "Why thank you, Malfoy."

"What's her name?" he asked, looking genuinely interested.

Hermione smirked a little. "Her Majesty," she replied ironically. "She's a Thoroughbred racehorse, almost two years old. Getting ready to race," she said as she brushed Her Majesty.

Malfoy looked impressed for a split second but quickly wiped it off his face.

"Is she yours?"

"Yup. And a few others. I'm training them myself. Don't know how I'll find the time though."

"I used to ride myself. It's been a while though. And anyways, you'll get through it. You're Hermione Granger. You always do, and with the best results." Malfoy stopped and thought about what he just said. Were they actually having a civil conversation?

"Well it looks like Cassie's done. We really have to go." Malfoy nodded to her.

"Bye Mia! Thanks a lot! I'll see you next week!" Cassandra yelled as they walked away.

Hermione waved back and also started thinking about her conversation with Malfoy.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

It was 5:00 in the evening when Hermione got back home. She was exhausted and all she wanted to do was shower and take a nap. She threw herself on her bed and called Ginny.

"Arsehole and Ginny Potter's Residence. This is Ginny, not the arsehole speaking."

"Gin, you're lucky it was me calling and not someone important that regularly calls there, like oh, I don't know, the MINISTER OF MAGIC!"

"Well hello to you too," Ginny grumbled.

"Gin, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"Oh, nothing. Harry and I just got into a fight is all."

"Oh, I'm sorry, hon. You'll work it out. On another, slightly happier note, I have a date tonight."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me sooner?! I'll be right there!" With that, Ginny hung up the phone.

Just seconds later, Ginny showed up in the fireplace with four dress bags and a big case of makeup.

"Go get in the shower now!" Ginny ordered.

Hermione chuckled at Ginny's excitement over her date. "Yes ma'am," she saluted Ginny as she left the room.

Ten minutes later, Ginny ushered Hermione to sit at her vanity desk (A/N: I think that's what you call it."

"We only have two hours! We must get to work." Ginny picked out a dress, did Hermione's makeup and hair and even packed a matching bag with "overnight necessities."

"Gin, I'm not going to need all that stuff. It's the first date."

"You might need them," Ginny said, "especially if he's hot. Plus, it's better to be safe than sorry."

Hermione rolled her eyes as the doorbell rang. She tensed. "He's here."

"Well, let's go see who this Prince Charming is. He cannot be hotter than Draco Malfoy." Ginny said.

Hermione just shook her head and went to get the door.

"Harry? What are you doing here?"

Harry entered the house and kissed her cheek. "I just came to check on my best friend and see where my wife disappeared off too."

"Really?" Hermione said, suspicion written all over her face. "I thought you two were in a fight."

Harry turned bright red. "We were, but we made up over the phone while you were showering."

"Gin, you told him about my date, didn't you?" Hermione turned to Ginny, accusingly.

"Yes! I'm sorry! But we both wanted to see you go out with someone for the longest time."

Hermione shook her head as the doorbell rang again. When she opened the door, she started fuming. "Ronald! What the hell are you doing here? You know what- don't answer that. Come in and hide yourself before I kill all of you." Ron looked at his feet sheepishly and shuffled into the house.

Without even closing the door, Hermione turned to them, eyes blazing. "For the very last time, my private life is not any of your business. You do not have the right to advertise it, especially when I tell you in confidence, Ginny. Telling Harry, I understand. But Ronald? What were you-"

Hermione was cut off by someone knocking on the door. " Am I interrupting something?" Jason asked, with a smile on his handsome face. "Jason! Hi! No, you are not interrupting anything. I am ready to go." She glared at the trio one last time before slamming the door behind her.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Jason had taken Hermione on a picnic under the stars, near a lake. It had been extremely romantic, talking and laughing under the sparkling night sky, drinking champagne and eating amazing Italian food. As they were finishing their dessert, Jason said, "Look, Hermione, I know you've had a long day, but a friend of mine is throwing a party with one of his mates, and I told him that I would stop by. Is that okay with you?"

Hermione stopped and thought about their dinner. She had had a great time, and felt completely at ease with Jason. He had been extremely romantic and a perfect gentleman and she didn't want this night to end. It was the first great date she had had in a long time, and wanted it to last. "Sure, why not. But you better stay with me the whole time. I probably won't know anyone there."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Oh how wrong she was.

Just minutes after they walked through the door of an exquisite mansion, a familiar nasally voice acknowledged them- or Jason, at least. "Jason Billings! How are you, my love?" She came up to him and kissed his cheek in a more-than-friends manner.

Hermione suddenly recognized the short black hair and the pug face. "Wait a minute! Parkinson?" She asked, surprised.

"Do I know you?" She looked down her nose at Hermione.

"You honestly don't remember? Works for me," Hermione muttered. She suddenly smirked. "Beautiful dress. Royalty is it?"

"Yes, and how did you know that?" Pansy said, lifting her eyebrow, looking her up and down.

"Lucky guess," Hermione lied, the smirk still on her face. "Excuse me, I think I need a drink." She turned around and walked over to the refreshment table, but accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry-," She started as she turned around to see the person she bumped into. Her face contorted into an expression of happiness and then confusion.

"Blaise? What are you doing here?"

"Mia! Hi! This is actually my party. I'm throwing it with… a friend." Blaise said somewhat vaguely.

"Wait, do you know Jason Billings?" She asked, curiously.

"No, not really. He must be a friend of… that friend's."

"It's Malfoy, isn't it?" Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"Wait, how-?" Blaise started to ask.

"I'm not stupid, Blaisey. The only thing I have a problem with right now is, why didn't I get invited?"

"Well, it's just that-," He started again, but was cut off by none other than Malfoy.

Draco looked at Blaise and then Hermione, in surprise. "Granger, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I am here with my date, who is off somewhere with that slut, Pansy Parkinson."

Draco smirked at the thought of the two women's encounter. He had seen Pansy earlier, when she had thrown herself at him, too. "Wait a minute. Isn't Pansy wearing-"

"I'm impressed, Malfoy. You recognized the dress. Yes, she's wearing my line. I didn't tell her though. We don't want to give her another reason to take off her clothes and flash everyone, like she would. That, I think, would be a very painful sight."

"Amen to that," Malfoy agreed, horrified at the thought of that happening. "I would have loved to see her expression though, if you had told her." He then realized the situation he was in. "Well," he said abruptly. "I should go and attend to my guests." He nodded curtly to Hermione, and gave Blaise a look before walking off.

"Well, well, well! Something you want to tell me, dearie?" Blaise raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What? I'm teaching his niece how to ride and we decided to be civil to each other. That's all."

"Mm-hm. Yeah, okay." Blaise looked at her one more before walking away himself.

Hermione weaved her way through the crowds, trying to find Jason. He was nowhere to be found. She sat down, watching the interactions of the people around her. On the other side of the room, Hermione saw Malfoy rushing out of the room. Just as she got up to see what he was up to, her cell phone rang.

She went outside to answer her phone. "Hey Gin! I'm sorry for yelling at you. I know you didn't mean to tell-," She was cut off by the sound of Ginny crying.

"Gin, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

She heard Ginny wailing and mumbling all at the same time, and tried to make out what she was saying. "Ok, Gin, calm down. Speak clearly. I can't understand what you are saying."

As Ginny spoke, Hermione's face turned pale.

No. No. This couldn't be happening. Hermione took off her shoes and threw them aside. She started running as fast as she could, blinded by her tears, unaware of where she was going. Soon, her legs became tired and weak, and she stumbled, falling to the ground. She sat up, hunched over, her knees to her chest. She rocked back and forth, sobbing and sobbing, until the tears just wouldn't flow anymore.

A/N: There it is! I hope you liked it! Sorry if you wanted details about the date- I have something else coming for those who did. And I know some people wanted to see the revenge Hermione got on Blaise but that will come soon, in two chapters or so. I've been typing this chapter up for the last two weeks or so, but I've been soo busy!! I'll try to update sooner! Also, I am putting a hold on my other story, A History of Magic, for a while. I'm going to rewrite it after this one is about halfway done or so. Thanks for reading! Please Read and Review! 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Here it is- the chapter you've all been waiting for. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And I know you all hated me because of that little cliffie but you're probably gonna hate me even more after this chapter. So here it is…

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Chapter 6:

The night was cool as Hermione wiped away her tears. A calm breeze blew and rustled the leaves as a peaceful lake glistened under the twinkling night sky. The scene was quite picturesque, completely different from her life at the moment.

She just couldn't believe that this was happening. She just wanted the latter part of the night to have just been a bad dream, which she could easily wake up from. Unfortunately, this was not the case. It was reality – a heart-wrenchingly painful reality. She knew that nothing could be done now, but she couldn't face it. Her head told her that she should go comfort Ginny who had always been emotionally weaker that her, but her heart told her that she herself wasn't strong enough to do so. She needed to collect herself and her emotions and find a way to stay strong in this time of their lives.

Hermione walked over to the lake, walking slightly into the water. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the breeze hit her. She could hear her cell phone ringing in the background but ignored it, trying to calm herself. On the other side of the lake, she thought she saw something running through the mass of trees. She ignored it and continued to walk around the lake, trying to regain her emotional strength.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Hermione unlocked her door and turned on the lights, hoping just to be able to go to bed. She froze as she heard some mumbling coming from her room. She took out her wand and cautiously approached the room, ready to disarm whomever it may be. Hermione quietly peeked into the room, and was relieved to see that it was just Ginny and Harry, just hugging each other, with Harry trying to soothe Ginny, whispering to her and stroking her hair.

Hermione stepped into full view as Harry and Ginny looked up. Ginny's face was tear-stained and Hermione immediately rushed over to her.

"Oh, baby!" She said soothingly, hugging Ginny to her.

Ginny sobbed even more. "I-I j-just can't b-b-believe it. I mean I w-was just talking to them y-y-yesterday!" She wailed, half of her words incomprehensible.

"Oh, honey! I know! I couldn't believe it either. But we need to deal with it and move on. We all loved them, no matter how crazy they got." Hermione said, the tears threatening to fall.

She looked at Harry. "Why don't you both stay with me tonight?" Harry just nodded.

Hermione quietly let go of Ginny and motioned for Harry to take her. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a huge tube of ice cream and two spoons, and a couple of movies, in case they felt like crying their hearts out.

She returned to her room and set the ice cream down on the bedside table.

"Ginny, do you want to sleep in here with me, or in the guest room with Harry?"

"With you," she replied simply.

"Harry?" she asked. Harry simply nodded grimly and mouthed a "thank you" as he left the room.

Hermione got into the bed and grabbed the ice cream off her bedside table. Ginny got under the covers and immediately dug into the ice cream, her eyes red from crying.

"The lawyer called." Ginny said abruptly.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"He wanted to meet with you about something in the will. It sounded really important."

"Did he leave a number to call back?"

"No, but I told them you would meet them at the flat tomorrow at noon. I figured you wouldn't mind, considering it had to do with their will and all," Ginny burst out crying again s Hermione rubbed her back and talked to her soothingly. She started singing one of Ginny's favorite songs as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Hermione woke up late the next morning and found Ginny still sleeping peacefully next to her. She lazily stretched out and turned over to look at the clock. It was 10:54 a.m. Hermione lounged in bed for a couple of minutes before realizing that she had to meet with the lawyers at noon. She hastily got up, searched for a nice suit, and took a quick shower. She left a note for Harry and Ginny on the kitchen table and grabbed her purse. She couldn't apparate or floo there because it was a very Muggle part of the city, and the lawyer might be a Muggle also. She waved down a cab and gave the driver the address.

Thirty minutes later, they arrived in front of the building. Hermione got out of the cab and climbed the stairs leading up to the apartment. A doorman opened the door for her and directed her to the elevator.

Before exiting the elevator, Hermione took a deep breath and calmed herself. She could not break down. She had to stay strong.

Hermione knocked on the door to the apartment. A tall bald man dressed in a grey suit opened the door.

"Hi. I'm Hermione Granger. I guess the lawyer wanted to talk to me," Hermione said.

"Yes, yes. Hi, my name is Robert Johnson. I am the aforementioned lawyer." He replied in a British accent. "It's very nice to meet you. Please do come in."

Hermione stepped in to the apartment and saw that it was in total chaos. Her face must have shown her shock because the lawyer said, "I know it's kind of messy, but we need to go through everything and identify the objects in the wills."

"Wills?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Yes. They made two separate wills. Thankfully, nothing really overlaps there except one thing, which I will talk to you about when the other person arrives."

She walked around the apartment, looking at the pictures hung on the walls. She looked at what seemed to be the most recent one, and tried to hold back her tears. Turning to Mr. Johnson, she said, "What happened to -,"

"Well, that is what I need to talk to you about. Once the other person-," A knock on the door interrupted him. "There he is!"

"Thank you for coming." Hermione heard Mr. Johnson say. She turned around and saw Malfoy coming into the apartment.

"Malfoy?" Hermione said, surprised.

"You two know each other? Well, this should make my life slightly easier." Mr. Johnson said.

"Granger, what are you doing here?" Malfoy asked sadly.

"Well, I could ask you the same thing."

"Theo was one of my best friends," Malfoy said hollowly.

"Theo? I didn't know you two knew each other. Maddie was one of my best friends too."

"Wait, you didn't know that Theo was friends with me?" Malfoy asked, confused. "Wait a minute, you didn't know that Theo Carter is – was Theodore Nott?"

"No I didn't." Realization dawned upon her face. "You were visiting them at the hospital that one day, weren't you?"

Malfoy just nodded. "Why did he change his name?"

He breathed deeply. "It was his chance to start over after the war. He didn't want to be associated with his family, because he was facing persecution even though he himself was a good person."

Hermione nodded. "Well let's get started," Mr. Johnson said.

"I called the both of you here today because we have some serious business to discuss. As both of you know, Theodore and Madison Carter left a baby girl behind, Haley Alisa Carter. In Theodore's will, he left her to you, Mr. Malfoy. In Madison's will, she left Haley to you, Ms. Granger. As we must respect both of their wishes, you two will have joint guardianship of Haley. Now she is very young, so I need you to work out your arrangement soon. She needs a specific routine that she can get used to, and won't take much out of her. Oh, and Ms. Granger, Madison left a note for you." He handed her the note.

Hermione opened it and her eyes welled up as she started reading.

_Dear Mia,_

_If you are reading this, it means that I am already gone. Please don't cry, Mia. I know how strong you are, and I know you will get through this. I want you to do something for me, my dear friend. I have named you Haley's godmother in my will, and I know that you will do an amazing job raising her. You are the best person for the job, and I know I will have no regrets even while I'm in heaven. Or maybe even hell, actually. _

Hermione let out a small laugh at this. She continued reading.

_My life has been absolutely amazing, with amazingly loving friends, and an even more loving husband. You gave me my first job, even though I was completely inexperienced and couldn't see my own potential. You gave me a chance, even though I wasn't in my right mind when we first met. Our relationship as boss and employee turned into one of friends, best friends. I will always be eternally grateful to you._

_My baby girl only has you and Draco now, and I know that both of you will raise her the right way. Now, I have a confession to make. I knew that Theo named Draco as Haley's guardian, even before I wrote my will. I always knew that you would be Haley's godmother, but I hadn't really made it official yet. Now, I know you will do a great job raising Haley, even if it has to be with Draco Malfoy. Give the guy a chance. He really is a sweet and loving person once you get to know him. _

_And now, a last piece of advice, my dear. Some of it may seem a little vague but trust me. Don't close off you heart or mind to any possibilities. Try to see everything for what it is, and don't miss the things right in front of you. Be grateful for everything you have at the moment, even if you don't like the circumstances because before you know it, you can lose it all. I know how you are Mia. You're stubborn as a donkey and refuse to give in to anything. Try to loosen up a little. Once again, I know some of this may be vague, and you might be wondering why I'm telling you this. When the time is right, you shall know. I have another letter coming for you, and you will get it when it is deemed the right time. Another close friend of mine is in possession of the letter and knows when to send it. You will get all your answers then. But for now, please take my advice to heart and take good care of my darling girl, which I know you will do. Please give her my love everyday of her life, and let her know that it was not our choice to leave her. I love you, Mia, my best friend in the world. And with that, I will say my good-bye._

_With all of my love,_

_Madison Carter_

And with that, Hermione burst out crying. She buried her face in her hands and cried her heart out, while the two men in the room were unsure of what to do. Malfoy went over to where she was sitting and tried to soothe her by rubbing her back. Eventually she quieted down and folded the letter up and put it in her purse.

"Where is Haley right now?" Hermione asked.

"She is with her nanny, who will be bringing her by shortly. Who will be taking her home tonight?"

"I will," Hermione said immediately. "If that's okay with you, Malfoy."

"Yes, yes. That's fine. I need some time to figure all this out anyways. I'll come by for her tomorrow afternoon."

Hermione nodded as the door to the apartment opened. A short, gray-haired lady walked through, holding a car seat, which was carrying a sleeping baby wrapped in a red blanket. Hermione got up from her seat and went to take the car seat from the lady. Mr. Johnson explained to the nanny who Hermione and Draco were, and what would happen to Haley.

Hermione took Haley in her arms and just held her. Haley opened her eyes and smiled. At that moment, Hermione vowed to protect her at all costs and raise her to be the child that Maddie would have wanted her to be. She kissed Haley on her cheeks and her nose, and watched her as she crinkled her nose in an adorable way.

"Where is all of Haley's stuff?" Hermione asked Mr. Johnson.

"I piled all her stuff in that corner over there."

"Ok thank you," Hermione said. "Malfoy, can you give me a hand shrinking all this stuff?"

"Wait is the lawyer a Muggle?" She asked Malfoy.

"No, he's a wizard, so it's alright."

Hermione shrunk all of Haley's things and stuffed them into a separate bag. She went to the fireplace with Haley in her car seat and the car seat in Hermione's hand, and yelled, "Tudor Place!"

As soon as she stepped out of the fireplace, she found that Ginny and Harry were still there. They dropped whatever they were doing and rushed to her and Haley. Both Ginny and Harry started playing with Haley, as Hermione dropped everything and sat down. _This child_, she thought, _will never be alone_. _She will always have someone to love her._

A.N: So there it is!! I kept you in suspense for most of the chapter on who died. It wasn't Harry! I hoped you liked it, even though I wasn't really happy with it. Hopefully it wasn't too sad. I promise you, the next chapter will be entertaining! So, Please Review!! Oh and I've started writing another story called Snowed In. It's just a little something for the holidays and it's going to be just 3-4 chapters, so keep an eye out for that! And I'll try to update this soon!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey everyone! So I have a week off so I actually had time to write! Thank you, oh so very much to everyone who reviewed. I know the last chapter was kind of sad, so hopefully parts of this chapter will cheer you up! And I know I already posted this one up but I changed parts of it cuz I wasn't really happy with it. Hopefully it's slightly better than before. I was suffering from mild writer's block so yeah. Please Read and Review!

Chapter 7:

It was 2:30 in the morning and Hermione was awakened by the sound of a baby crying. In her half-asleep state, she was confused, but soon all the events of the previous day came rushing back to her as she saw the crib in her room. She dragged herself to the crib, picked up Haley, and started to rock her and tried to soothe her. When this didn't work, Hermione went to the kitchen and warmed up one of Haley's bottles. She remembered something about feeding babies every two or three hours, and figured that hunger was the reason for Haley's crying. She got the bottle out of the microwave, tested the warmth of the milk on the back of her hand, and put it into Haley's mouth. Haley quietly drank for about twenty minutes, and slowly went back to sleep. Hermione carried her back to the crib and tucked her in, giving her a tiny kiss on the forehead.

As she walked back to her bed, she started panicking. What was she going to do? She wasn't a mother. She didn't have this kind of experience. She needed some urgent help, someone who knows exactly what they're doing. First, she decided to do some research on the Internet. She got some basic tips and advice, but she needed more. She racked her brains, trying to figure out whom she could call. It finally came to her. The most obvious solution, but it took her forever to figure it out. Feeling slightly more encouraged, Hermione set her alarm to wake her up in another two hours, and went back to sleep.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

The next morning, at a more godly hour, Hermione decided to call her mother, who could help her with Haley and could always help her get her mind off of things. She waited for her mother to pick up, as she watched Haley play with her toys.

"Hello, Granger Residence. This is Elizabeth Granger speaking." Hermione's mother answered the phone.

"Mum! Hi, it's me." Hermione said.

"Darling! How are you? To what do I owe this pleasure of an early morning call?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh Mum! Can you come by today. We really need to talk." Hermione answered, on the verge of tears.

"Of course, dearest. Can you come pick me up in a half an hour?"

"I don't think I'll be able to. I'll get Harry and Ginny to do it. I love you, Mum." Hermione hung up and started dialing Ginny.

After arranging that Harry and Ginny could bring her mother over to her place, and putting Haley to sleep, Hermione turned on the baby monitor and took a quick shower. Just as she was finishing getting dressed, she heard the fireplace beep, and rushed over. Ginny and Elizabeth both stepped out, brushing themselves off, followed by Harry.

"Hi, you guys!" Hermione went over and hugged all of them. She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"How are you, Mum?" She asked.

"I'm fine, dear, but what about you? What happened?" She asked, concerned. Just then, the baby monitor emitted some noise, which was Haley crying. Elizabeth looked at it, surprised.

Hermione quickly excused herself and went to go get Haley. As she walked back to the living room, she gently bounced and soothed Haley. She went to the kitchen and warmed up a bottle.

"Hermione, who is this?" Elizabeth asked, clearly shocked.

"Mum, this is Haley. She's not technically mine. Don't worry. Remember my friend that I met when Gin and I first moved here, Maddie?" Elizabeth nodded. "Well, Maddie and her husband just passed away a couple of days ago, and she left Haley to me."

"Oh honey!" Elizabeth said, a look of worry and concern on her face. "I'm so sorry!"

"Well, I think I've sort of come to terms with it. I need help with Haley. I don't know what I'm doing." Hermione said as she fed Haley her bottle.

"Of course! Would you like me to stay here a couple of weeks and help you out? I'll teach you whatever you need to know."

Hermione nodded. "That would be a great help. Thank you, Mum."

For the next few hours, the four of them just sat there talking, as Hermione fed and played with Haley.

"Hey Mum? Do you want to go and get your stuff before it gets too late and you don't feel like dragging all of it to the fireplace?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, yes. Harry, dear can you help me?" Elizabeth turned to Harry.

"Of course." Harry and Elizabeth both stepped into the fireplace.

As soon as they were gone, the doorbell rang, which surprised Hermione, as she wasn't really expecting anyone. She carried Haley over to the door and opened it.

"Malfoy? I totally forgot that you were coming by today. Please, come in." Hermione said. When Haley saw Malfoy, she smiled and struggled to get out of Hermione's arms. "Well, it looks like she wants to go to you, so why don't you hold her for a bit." She handed Haley to Malfoy and led him into the living room.

"So, how are you holding up?" Malfoy asked.

Hermione was surprised. "Better than before. I'm sorry I completely lost it yesterday at the meeting. I know that was kind of uncomfortable for you."

"Don't worry about it."

"We need to figure out a routine for her, something that won't take too much out of her, and something that will give her some stability." Hermione thought about what they could do. "We can't really have her here and at your house every other day. It would be too much for her. She's only about three months old."

"I agree," Draco said. "And it's probably not the best idea to take her over to my house because my parents are still there, and will probably try to drive the two of you away, considering that the presence of the two of you would drive away any prospective wives." He said that last bit with some disgust.

"So we agree that she should stay here? My mother is going to stay with me for a couple of weeks to help me with Haley, so it would be the best option."

"Well, I don't want to be absent from her life and just be a constant visitor. I want to be the one that has to wake up in the middle of the night to feed her too." Hermione looked surprised as he said this. "Look, I love this girl. And I know that might be hard for you to believe, but I truly do, and I will do anything for her. And I promised Theo that I would care for her like she was my own daughter."

"Wow, Malfoy. I didn't think you had it in you. I'm impressed." Hermione said with a genuine smile.

As all of this was going on, Ginny sat quietly, smirking, as she watched the scene before her.

"I had an idea," Hermione started hesitantly, "But I'm not sure if you're going to go for it. Just remember that this just for the well-being of Haley, nothing else."

"Just spill it, Granger," Malfoy said, with a smirk on his face.

"I think that it would be best if we moved in together." She searched his face for an expression. "I know that it's moving extremely fast, but it's the only real solution. I mean, if you want to be involved with Haley's life the way that you just said, it's the only logical solution, especially if we don't want to keep moving her everyday, and I know that it's completely unrealistic but-,"

"Okay, Granger." Malfoy replied simply.

"Wait. What?"

"I said, okay. I don't like it. It's what's best for Haley. I will move in with you, for Haley's sake."

Hermione looked shocked. "Okay, well. That's settled then. We need to lay down some ground rules though. First, you start call me by my first name, and I will do the same for you. Second, we will _always_ treat each other with civility, no matter how pissed off we get at each other, and will not resort to calling each other names. Third, if I feel that you are being a complete and utter idiot and are being disrespectful in any way, I reserve the right to kick you out of this house _whenever_ I feel like it. Oh and no women in the house at night. Deal?" Hermione held out her hand to Malfoy.

"Deal." Malfoy shook her hand.

"You will have your own wing of the house to yourself, if you would like. It would just be like us living in two neighboring houses, instead of the same one. And just so that we are clear, I expect you to carry out all duties, including diaper duty, whenever necessary."

Malfoy nodded with a semi-disgusted look on his face.

"So when would you like to move in?" Hermione asked.

Just then, Harry and Elizabeth stumbled out of the fireplace, coughing. Harry put Elizabeth's things down and blanched when he saw Malfoy sitting on the couch, with Haley in his arms.

"Mia, what is Malfoy doing in your house, holding Haley?" Harry asked, his teeth gritted.

"Harry, calm down. Maddie's husband left Haley to him also." Harry's eyebrows rose as she said this.

"What?" Harry scoffed in disbelief. "He left her to Malfoy?" A look of disgust crossed his face.

"Um, Harry, my best friend in the whole wide world and love you like a brother?" Hermione said, somewhat frightened. She knew how Harry's tempers could be.

"Yes, Hermione?" He asked, dreading whatever she had to tell him.

"Actually Mum, you should hear this too." She took a deep breath. "Malfoy is going to move in with me."

"WHAT!?" Harry exploded. "You've spent more than seven years hating his guts, and now you're moving in with him? I don't believe this!"

"Harry, dear, calm down. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for this, " Elizabeth said calmly, looking expectantly at her daughter.

"Look, Harry, I know that you hate him, but now he has to be a father to Haley, just as I have to be a mother to her. He doesn't want to slack off on this job. He loves this little girl and wants to be there for her at all times. And the only way to do that is if we move in together." Hermione said reasonably. "I'm giving him his own separate wing, if that makes you feel any better."

"Well, I guess that's slightly better," Harry grumbled. "I don't like it though."

"Well, I think it's a great idea, and it's what's best for Haley right?" Ginny smirked at Hermione.

Hermione glared at her before turning to her mother. "I hope this isn't going to be completely awkward for you, Mum."

"Oh no. Don't worry, dear. I'll be fine." Elizabeth said with a smile on her face.

"Ok, well, Mia dear, Harry and I are going to go. Call me if you need anything," Ginny said, giving Hermione a hug. Harry and Ginny stepped into the fireplace, and waved as they left.

"Draco, let me show you where you're going to sleep. I think I will move Haley's crib into the room next to mine so that you can just go in there when she starts crying in the middle of the night. Her bottles are in the kitchen, in the fridge, and the rest of her stuff, including diapers and whatnot will be in her room."

He just nodded as he followed her. "I'll probably be up late talking with my mom, so I'll take the night shift tonight, and you can take it tomorrow. I hope you're comfortable in your room."

"Thanks. I know this is the last thing both of us want to do, so I really appreciate you letting me be a part of her life." Draco said hesitantly.

Hermione gave him a small smile. "Just remember our agreement. I will have a contract tomorrow for you to sign, which will be magically binding. It will be almost like an Unbreakable Vow, only the consequences more severe, if that's possible.

She started walking out the door, when she had an epiphany. She turned around again.

"By the way, have you talked to Blaise recently?" Hermione asked.

"No. Why?" Draco asked, confused.

"Well, I've been meaning to get back at him for a while now, and I have the perfect prank. Would you like to help me with it?"

"Sure," Draco said, a big grin on his face. "What does it entail?"

Hermione smirked. "Oh you'll see. You need to help me with some of these preparations. This will take some work. But one thing I can tell you now, is that Blaise Zabini will not be the same after this."

A/N: There it is! Sorry it's so short and moves kind of fast. I wasn't really happy with it. They moved in together! Which is kind of unrealistic but oh well. I didn't see that coming either actually. And next chapter is getting back at Blaise! I'll try to update soon!! Please Review!! Chapter 8 will be posted in the next day or two!

Check out my other story, called Snowed Inn.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Please Read and Review! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 8:

Everything was set, except for two things. The potion was ready; She had the help of everyone that she needed, except for two people. These people are the most crucial part of this little…game. Hermione and Draco decided to pay them a visit. She knew that she would need Draco's help with one of them, but the other was a very good friend and hoped that she would cooperate. Without them, this would be a complete and utter disaster. Malfoy didn't think that they would cooperate, considering that it might be a little emotional for the friend, but Hermione was pretty sure that she would. The other would definitely be a challenge, considering she was a Slytherin, so they decided that Draco would go alone to talk to her. They both stepped into the fireplace and went to the respective houses. It was time to get down to business.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

The plan was ready to be executed. Everything was set, and maximum confusion and fear with a hint of humiliation were the only possible outcomes of it. Blaise won't even know what hit him. Hermione called everyone participating in the plan over to her house to discuss their strategy. Hermione, Ginny, Draco, and Harry would enter first and carry out their part of the plan, while the other person would only enter once Blaise figured out the truth. Hermione called Blaise's secretary and confirmed the times that he would be in the office and gave her strict instructions to keep Blaise in the office during his free time.

Hermione went to get the potions she needed and put the last remaining ingredients into them. She poured them into flasks that they could carry for backup, in case they started to wear off before they were supposed to.

The clock struck one o'clock. "It's time," Hermione said as she looked around at everyone. "Everyone, take your potions," she ordered.

She smirked. "Well, let's go have some fun with Blaise, shall we?"

Hermione and Ginny entered the fireplace first. They were instructed to enter the fireplace at specific intervals. Draco would follow next, five minutes later.

They were engulfed by the green flames, and soon found themselves in Blaise's office. Blaise looked up from his work and a flicker of surprise passed over his face.

"Mia? Weaslette?" Blaise said. "What are you two doing here?" He asked, confused.

"Oh, Blaise." Hermione looked pityingly at him, with tears in her eyes. "I never knew!"

At this Blaise was even more confused. He turned to Ginny and was about to ask her what was going on, but at that same moment, Malfoy stepped out of the fireplace.

He walked over to Blaise, shaking his head sadly, and gave him a hug. "Wow, man. You should have told me."

"What the hell are you three going on about?" Blaise looked at all of them as if they were crazy.

Just then, an extremely ugly woman carrying a baby stepped out of the fireplace. Blaise stopped and stared. He was even more shocked than he had been before.

"Bullstrode?" He asked, even more confused. "What the hell are you doing here? A-And who is t-that?" His eyes widened as he noticed the baby in her arms.

"This is your daughter, Blaise." Millicent Bullstrode said calmly.

"W-what? N-no. It c-can't be." At this point, Hermione, Ginny, and Draco were trying really hard to hold back their laughs. But thankfully, Blaise was too shocked to even notice.

"Think about it Blaise. You broke up with Mandy a little over a year ago. That night, you were in a bar, with Granger. She was trying to help you get over Mandy, and then you ran into me. We were both so drunk that I don't think we realized what happened. She's four months old." Millicent said, with a small smile.

Blaise just stared. "I can't believe this!" He went back to his desk, and put his face in his hands. "How can this be? I had sex with Bullstrode?" Draco burst out laughing.

Hermione glared at him. At this point it only seemed as if she was glaring at him for not being comforting, not for nearly giving themselves away.

By then, Hermione had recollected herself. "Yes you did. I was there with you that night, remember?"

"Why didn't you stop me?" Blaise asked Hermione angrily.

"Well, we were all too drunk to know what we were doing. I'm sorry. But Blaise, honey, you have to do something about this. Pay child support, and help out with the baby." She put her arm on his back, and rubbed it soothingly.

"I don't know if I can. I mean I've never had experience with children, let alone babies, before. What if I do something wrong?" He stood up to get himself a drink.

"Blaise, you have to do what you think is right. And plus, you have all of us to help you out." Hermione said with a pitying look in her eyes. She went over to Millicent and looked at the baby. " She's beautiful! Have you looked at her, Blaise?"

Blaise walked over with a drink in his hand. Hermione looked at him and slapped his arm. "Blaise! No drinks around the baby! That's what got you into this mess in the first place!" She scolded him.

He put his drink down on the table and went to go look at the baby.

Draco walked over also. "So Zabini, what are you going to tell your mother?" He put his arm around his shoulders.

Blaise's eyes widened. "Oh shit! I totally forgot about Mum! She's going to kill me! Oh no, oh no, oh no! What am I going to do? Arghh!"

Just then, Millicent's face started bubbling. Blaise looked at her, scared and confused about what was happening. After a minute, the bubbling stopped, but Blaise found himself staring at the face of Harry Potter. Blaise's eyes widened.

"POTTER!" He sputtered. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" He rounded on Draco and Hermione. "YOU TWO! YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!" As Blaise kept yelling at Hermione and Draco, who couldn't stop laughing, a beautiful woman stepped out of the fireplace and took the baby from Harry.

Even louder than Blaise, she yelled, "Shut the hell up Blaise! You'll scare the child!"

Blaise turned around and looked even more shocked than he already was. He looked at her and then everyone else in the room, and then fainted.

Hermione and Draco walked over to the woman and the baby. Hermione took the baby from her arms and cooed, "Come on baby. Let's get you home. You've had enough excitement for today. I'm surprised you haven't started crying yet.

"You'll take care of Blaise, right? We have to take care of Haley." Hermione asked the woman. She just nodded. Draco and Hermione stepped into the fireplace, with Haley in her arms, and Ginny couldn't help but think how much they looked like a family.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Blaise opened his eyes and found that he was lying on the couch in his office. He saw a woman sitting in his chair at his desk.

"Nice office you've got here." She said when she saw that he had opened his eyes.

"Mandy?" Blaise croaked, trying to get up.

"Don't get up, Blaise. You'll just hurt yourself even more." Mandy walked over to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." He said. "What happened?"

"Well, you fainted after you saw me in your office. But that was after the rest of them told you that you had a child."

"Oh God." Blaise put his head in his hands. " I can't believe that I thought that I slept with Bullstrode. But if in the end she wasn't mine, whose was she?"

"Wow, Blaise. As oblivious as ever. That was Haley. You know, Theo's daughter."

"Oh," Blaise nodded in comprehension. "But what were they doing with her?"

"Really, Blaise? You're best friends, and you don't even know what happened." Mandy shook her head. "Theo and his wife passed away, giving Hermione and Draco guardianship of Haley."

"Oh no!" Blaise said. "I can't believe it."

"Well, believe it. The thing I can't believe is that Potter actually agreed to turn himself into Millicent Bullstrode." Mandy laughed.

Blaise was silent. "What are you doing here Mandy?"

"Well, they asked me to help get back at you, and they knew that I was still your weak spot, so I agreed. It was the only way I could think of where I would be able to see you again." Mandy said quietly. " I wasn't really sure if what they said was true. I mean it's been more than a year since we broke up, and I thought maybe you would have moved on."

"Well, I'm sure that me fainting at the sight of you is a pretty good indication that you are my weak spot, Mandy Brocklehurst."

Mandy gave him a small smile. "What happened to us? I mean you were the love of my life. In school we were always trying to get back at each other for something or the other. We were such big troublemakers, and in the end, we realized that we loved each other. But then, one day, it all just fell apart."

"I honestly don't remember why we broke up." Blaise said, looking at Mandy lovingly. "So why don't we give it another try?"

"Another try? Do you remember what happened last time when we broke up? I don't think I'll be able to handle it! I was a mess! I cried myself to sleep for months and if that wasn't bad enough -,"

Blaise reached up and kissed her. "All I know, Brocklehurst, is that I love you. I always have." He kissed her again and again, enjoying having the love of his life in his arms.

Then Mandy stopped him. "Wait a minute. You realize that Hermione and Draco have the same history that we did, even if it was a little more intense. They hated each other, and were always trying to get back at each other, even though it wasn't with silly little pranks like us. Maybe, we can help them discreetly figure out what they're missing. But we will need Potter and his wife's help."

"I like the way you think, Brocklehurst." Blaise smiled mischievously before kissing her again.

DMGHDMHGBZMBBZMB

Hermione and Draco stepped out of the fireplace, laughing.

"I can't believe we actually did that! Did you see his face?" Hermione asked, her cheeks red and flushed from laughing so hard.

"That was classic! He basically had a heart attack right then and there." Draco said. "That made my life."

"Mine too." Hermione said. "Well, I'm going to go put Haley down for a nap. She's overdue for one, with all the excitement she's had today."

Draco simply nodded and watched her as she walked away. He walked into the kitchen to make himself some tea. He absent-mindedly started making some, at the same time thinking about how pretty Hermione looked when she laughed. He shook the thoughts from his head, and decided that maybe he needed a nap too.

A/N: Sorry it's kind of short! I hope you liked! I wasn't really all that happy with the chapter. I know there wasn't much Dramione action in this chapter, but Blaise and Mandy are going to be a pretty big couple in this story too. Next chapter there will be a lot of Dramione. The ups and downs of living together. Please Review!! I'll try to update soon!!

If it wasn't clear, Harry took a polyjuice potion to look like Millicent- that's who Draco needed to talk to in the very beginning. And Blaise didn't really sleep with her. The baby is actually Haley.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the character of Haley Alisa Carter, oh and the plot.

Chapter 9:

Hermione woke up to the sound of Haley crying. She knew it was Malfoy's turn to wake up and get to Haley, but it didn't seem like Malfoy was getting up anytime soon. She put on her slippers and trudged over to Haley's room and picked her up from her crib.

"Shh, it's okay, baby. It's alright." She cooed while rocking Haley. Hermione walked over to the kitchen and took out a bottle of milk. She tried to feed it to her, but Haley refused to drink. Hermione then checked her diaper, and found the cause of all the crying. She quickly changed Haley's diaper. As she was doing so, Haley reached up her hands and touched both of Hermione's cheeks. Hermione instantly smiled. She bent her head down even more and kissed her nose and cheeks. She nuzzled her face, and Haley smiled. "You're such a cute baby, yes you are," Hermione said, standing Haley up on her knees. "You can always make me smile, no matter what time of the morning it is."

Haley put her hands all over Hermione's face. Just then, Malfoy walked into the room, yawning. "Granger?" He asked sleepily. "Was Haley crying?"

"Yeah, she was. It's okay, Malfoy. You can go back to sleep. She's fine now."

"You want me to put her back to sleep?" He asked. "It's the least I can do, considering I was supposed to wake up to get her just now."

"Sure," she said, standing up and handing Haley to Malfoy. "She didn't eat anything, so you don't have to burp her or anything. You can just put her to sleep."

Malfoy nodded. "Good night, Malfoy." Hermione said, walking to her room.

Malfoy walked into the room next to Hermione's and put Haley in her crib. He leaned his forearms on the top of the crib and smiled down at the little girl that was currently playing with her feet. He was surprised at himself, and how much this little girl was changing him in the smallest ways.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

The next morning, Hermione had to get to work early for a meeting with Blaise and a company that was interested in selling her line. She quickly wrote a note for Malfoy and stuck it to Haley's crib, so that he was sure to see it.

Hermione stepped into the fireplace and Flooed to her office, where Blaise was waiting for her.

"Hey Blaise," She greeted him, sitting down at her desk.

"Hermione," He said curtly, not looking at her.

"Blaise, why are you mad at me?"

"You know very well why, Mia." He said, still refusing to look at her.

"If this is about the prank, you should have known something was coming. I told you that I would get back at you for what happened at the dinner party."

"I thought you had forgotten about that."

"Blaise, sweetie, I never forget these things. I am known for holding grudges." She said with a smirk on her face.

"Yes, but you managed to get over your grudge against Draco pretty quickly, now didn't you?" He retorted with an even bigger smirk on his face.

Hermione glared at him. "You know what the circumstances are, so don't give me that. And plus, you have to admit that we definitely pulled that prank off really well."

He glared at her. "Maybe, but it's not very nice to go have a guy like me that he has a kid. It's just cruel. You know how much I like my _freedom_."

"Yes, that's true, you mean with women? You are a womanizer, but that was only after you and Mandy broke up. So, give me the details. What happened with you and Mandy?"

Blaise had a dreamy smile on his face. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be complaining about the prank because Mandy and I are back together."

Hermione smiled. "That's great, Blaise! I'm so happy for you two." Just then, Hermione's assistant Lizzie knocked and poked her head through the door.

"Hermione, the representatives from Macy's are here."

"Ok, great. Thanks Lizzie. Send them in." Hermione turned to Blaise. "Are you ready?"

Blaise nodded. "Ok, let's do our thing."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

After the meeting, Hermione decided to go home for lunch and to check on Haley. She stepped out of the fireplace and found Haley on the floor in her little playpen, playing with her toys. Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.

Hermione went over to her and picked her up. "Hi there, sweetie. Where's Draco? Did he leave you all alone?"

"Granger?" Malfoy asked from behind me. Hermione turned around. He stood in the doorway with nothing but sweatpants on. She looked at his bare chest, which was nicely toned from years of Quidditch. "Are you done drooling?" He asked, with a smirk on his face.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "What are you doing here? I thought you went to work."

"I did, but I didn't have any meetings for the rest of the day, so I thought I would take Haley shopping with me."

"Oh, okay." He said, his eyes wandering all over her body.

"Malfoy, do you have a job of some sort?"

"Yeah I do at Malfoy Enterprises. But being the CEO and owner of the company, I get to hand out all the hard jobs to those who actually need the money and who work for me."

"Ah," Hermione said, raising her eyebrows. "Okay, well, did you want to come with us, or do you have plans on actually going to work?"

"Oh, well, I guess I'll join you for a little bit, and then I have to be somewhere."

"Okay, well, we're going to Diagon Alley and maybe somewhere else if I don't get all my shopping done."

They stopped at many different stores, buying clothes and toys for Haley. After they were done with that, Hermione decided to get some dresses and robes for herself because she had many business parties coming up. Malfoy was forced to stand outside the fitting rooms with Haley and all of the things they had bought earlier.

"Why did I agree to come with you," he groaned as Hermione was trying on a dress.

"Because you had nothing better to do." She replied, and came out of the dressing room to look at herself in the mirror.

"What do you think?" Hermione asked him.

Malfoy was speechless. "You l-look, um…decent." That was all he could get out.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Thank you Malfoy. I think that's the biggest compliment you've ever given me." She rolled her eyes and went back into the fitting room. She knew she had put him on the spot.

After trying a couple more dresses on, she decided that Haley must be tired, and decided to pay for three of the dresses she had tried on and had been satisfied with. They walked out of the store and came across Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.

"Hermione!" They squealed. "How are you?"

She sighed. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with them right now. Plastering a smile to her face, she replied, "I'm great, how are you two? Still as close as ever, huh?"

"Yeah-," And then they saw Haley. "Who is this?" They asked curiously. And then they saw Malfoy. _This was turning out to be a great day, now wasn't it?_ Hermione thought. _The two biggest gossips in the world see me with a child and Malfoy. They're going to think we're a big, happy family. Just great._

"Are you two married?" Lavender asked, in that I–want-details-now tone.

"No. We aren't. And this is not our child either, so if you'll excuse us, we really need to be somewhere. I'll talk to you guys later, okaythanksbye." Hermione said in a rush. They walked away and Malfoy started laughing.

"What are you laughing at Malfoy?" I asked, exasperated.

"You looked like you were going to have a heart attack back there," He chuckled, trying to catch his breath.

"Yes, because in case you don't remember, those two are the biggest gossips ever, and if they go around telling people that we're married, I'm going to kill myself. Or better yet, you or them."

Draco scowled. Just then, Hermione's phone rang.

"Hermione Granger speaking," She answered the phone.

"Hermione! Hi! It's Jason."

"Jason? What? You finally remembered me after about a month or so, after ditching me at that party?" Hermione hissed into the phone.

"Hermione, look I'm sorry. Can we please just talk about this?"

"No!" She hung up the phone.

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Who was that?"

"Oh, no one. Just a good-for-nothing pig who decides that after asking me out, Pansy Parkinson seems like a much better date than me because she's so easy."

"Ok, whoa. Pansy's not that easy, and are you sure it happened like that?"

Draco said, defending his fellow Slytherin.

"Yes. He completely ditched me at that party of yours and Blaise's and he didn't even bother to call me or seek me out after that."

"Do I know him?"

"I don't know. His name's Jason Billings."

"Wait a minute. You went out with Jason? I've known him for years. He's a nice guy."

"Really?" She asked, raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Yeah, give him a chance. It's not very easy to fend off Pansy."

"But he could have called me the next day, or even a week later." She pointed out.

"True, but guys like Jason aren't really programmed like that. Give him a chance."

"Okay. I must be completely crazy but I'm going to take your word for it." She took out her phone again and called him back.

"Jason, it's Hermione. We can meet up tonight, but you have a lot of groveling to do. Pick me up at eight."

Draco watched as she talked to Jason on the phone. He couldn't stop thinking about her in that dress and realized that maybe her going out with Jason might not be such a great idea. He shook the thought from his head and tried to forget it.

"You'll be able to watch Haley tonight?" Hermione asked Draco.

He nodded silently. "I have to go. I'll be back before you leave for your date." He walked off to a local pub and ordered himself a firewhiskey. He really didn't want Hermione to go out with Jason. Jason had a reputation, that of a playboy. He cursed himself. He shouldn't be thinking this. He wasn't supposed to have feelings for Hermione. He drained his glass. But the ugly truth was, he did. Watching her with Haley and seeing her in that dress… her wit never ceased to amaze him, and it was even more astounding that she had built up such a huge successful reputation and empire in both the Muggle and Wizarding world. He was definitely falling for her.

A/N: There it is- I wasn't really happy with it. Sorry, nothing really big happened in this chapter, except for Draco realizing his feelings. It was more of a filler chapter. I'll try to update soon. And I know that I said that this chapter was supposed to be the ups and downs of living together, but there was a change of plans. Hopefully a little more fluff in the next chapter. I do not know what is going to happen in the next chapter yet, but please review!! Thanks a lot! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Here's the next chapter. Oh and I do accept anonymous reviews now. I didn't know that I didn't, so now I do. Please review!!

Chapter 10:

It was half past seven and Draco still hadn't shown up at the house to look after Haley as he had promised. Hermione was getting worried. She told herself that she would wait another fifteen minutes before going into a full-scale panic state and start looking for Draco. She paced the living room while Haley was sitting in her playpen, happily playing with her toys. She called Ginny and asked her if she could look after Haley in case Draco didn't show, but she and Harry already had plans. She tried calling Blaise, but he wasn't picking up his phone, and Ronald was nowhere to be found.

At eight o'clock sharp, the doorbell rang. Hermione opened the door to find a big bouquet of flowers and a huge teddy bear, instead of a man's face. Jason's head poked out from in between the two and had a sheepish smile on his face. "I'm sorry!" He said.

"Come on in," She said, taking the flowers from him, allowing him to put down the teddy bear.

"Look, Jason, I don't know if we'll be able to go out tonight." Hermione said hesitantly.

"What? Why?" Jason asked, looking extremely confused.

"Draco said he would be here to look after Haley, but he's not here yet, and I'm getting really worried."

"Haley?" Jason asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, my goddaughter." She walked over to the playpen and picked Haley up. "Her parents passed away recently and they gave Draco and me guardianship of her. I can't really leave her alone."

"No, definitely not," Jason agreed.

Hermione looked searchingly into his eyes. "I really hope that if tonight goes well, that me having Haley doesn't scare you off."

"No, no, of course not. I love kids. I have little nieces and nephews of my own."

"Really?" Hermione asked, somewhat hesitant.

"Really." Jason replied, warmly.

Hermione's phone started ringing. She lunged for it.

"Hello? Draco?" She said frantically.

"Sorry to disappoint, dearie, it's only me." Blaise said. "What's going on, Mia?"

"Draco is nowhere to be found and he promised me that he would be home to look after Haley. I have a date tonight, and I have no one to watch her."

"Ok, calm down Hermione. It's going to be okay. Mandy and I will come over and take care of her. You go out and have some fun. Go find Draco and kick his ass."

"Thank you, Blaise. I really appreciate it." Hermione hung up the phone and told Jason the situation. A few minutes later, Blaise and Mandy stepped out of the fireplace.

"Thank you, you two. I really appreciate it," Hermione said, hugging them.

"Anytime, " Mandy emphasized. "Now, go have some fun."

"Oh and Mia. If you want to find Draco, check at his favorite pub in Hogsmeade. It's called 'The Bull'." Blaise added.

Hermione gave Haley a kiss and handed her over to Mandy. Jason and Hermione stepped into the fireplace and found themselves in Hogsmeade.

"I thought we'd go to a cozy café that I like here. They make the most amazing lasagna."

"Before, we do, can we go to that pub so I can check on Malfoy? I want to convey a certain message to him, really quickly."

"Sure. Let's go. Even though he's my friend, I'd kind of like to see this."

They walked to the pub and pushed open the doors, and found it to be pretty deserted. Only two or three people were inside excluding the bartender. They didn't see Draco among those that were sitting at tables, but they did see a figure at the bar, with their head down. Hermione stormed over and found that it was indeed the missing Draco Malfoy. His cheek was pressed up against the counter with his hands on either side of his head. He was asleep.

Hermione turned to the bartender. "Excuse me, do you have some ice that I could borrow?"

The bartender put some in a glass and slid it over to her.

Hermione took the ice from the glass and put it down Draco's shirt and pants.

He immediately jerked up. "OY! What the hell?" He yelled.

Then he saw Hermione and put two and two together. Even though he was still completely inebriated.

"G-GRANGER! Did yooouuu p-pu-t iiice in mah paaants?" Malfoy slurred, dancing around, trying to avoid the ice from getting to his most prized possession.

Hermione crossed her arms. "No, Malfoy. You put it down there yourself." She rolled her eyes. She took a deep breath and tried to keep calm, but there was no stopping her.

"DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY! You said that you would be home to take care of Haley so that I could go out with Jason-"

"Whaaaa? Youuu espect me tooo pick up yoouuuur slack so that you can have some fuuuuuun?" He said, still slurring his words.

"Let me remind you that you were the one who told me to give Jason another chance. YOU were the one who told me to go out with him tonight because he's a good guy. YOU volunteered to take care of Haley."

"Oh shiiiit, I forgot abou' Haaaley." He smacked himself on his forehead.

"Yes, you forgot about your goddaughter. How could you do such a thing?" Hermione yelled.

The bartender came over and interrupted. "Miss, I'm gonna have to ask you to take it outside."

Hermione glared at him. If looks could kill…

The bartender quickly backed off. "Take your time, Miss." He ran into the back room.

"This is strike one, Malfoy. Strike three, and you are out of my house, and out of Haley's life, for good." She said in a deadly voice.

"I'm going to get you home. Maybe Blaise and Mandy can knock some sense in to you."

She looked at Jason. "I'm so sorry about this. We can go to the restaurant after we drop him off at home."

"Don't worry about it. Let's just get him home."

They walked to the nearest fireplace connected to the Floo network and Flooed home, Hermione and Jason holding Malfoy up on either side.

"Mia? What's going on?" Blaise asked confused from where he was sitting on the couch.

"Well, we found Malfoy. You were right- he was at that pub. If you could just look after him and knock some sense into him, that would be great. And don't let Haley see."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Jason and Hermione walked over to the cozy restaurant in Hogsmeade. Hermione was still fuming about Draco, while Jason was trying to comfort her. He had an amused smile on his face.

As they sat down at the table, Hermione apologized about everything that happened that night.

"Don't worry about it, Hermione. It's fine," Jason said warmly. "I have to admit, that was really amusing, though. It's not everyday that you see someone put Draco Malfoy in his place like that, and put ice down his clothes."

"Yeah, well, he needs to learn that the world doesn't revolve around him." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Enough about that. Start groveling." Hermione said with a smirk on her face.

"What?" Jason asked, perplexed.

"I said, start groveling." She repeated, the smirk still in place.

"Oh," Jason said amusedly. "Ok, fine. But I think Draco has been rubbing off on you. You and that smirk could easily give Draco a run for his money.

"Now, where to begin? Oh yes, before you start could you put a spell on the people around us, just so that they won't hear me embarrass myself?"

"Nope."

"That's what I thought. If only I had my wand."

"I'm waiting." Hermione crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay, look, Hermione, I am so, so sorry about leaving you at the party like that. I mean, you went to school with Pansy Parkinson. You know how she can be."

"Yes I do. Go on."

"Well, I'm sure you've seen that she can be extremely clingy. She wouldn't let me go. I tried and tried to get away from her, but she always found me."

"That's all fine, I know how Parkinson can be, but you had the chance to call me the next day, the next week. But you decide to call me the next month. What do you have to say about that?" Hermione's eyebrows were raised.

"Okay, well, I kind of figured that you would be mad at me and I thought that you would want your space." He said sheepishly.

"Jason, I wasn't mad that you got pulled away from Pansy. As long as you had tried to look for me again later that night, or even called me, I would have just laughed it all off. I could have used you that night, the next day. That very night, Haley's parents passed away. You knew Theo, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. And I am so, so sorry. If I had known that had happened and how hurt you were, I would have been there for you. I mean, we were friends before that night, and you could have used one. " He came over and kneeled (on both knees) in front of her. "I would never do anything to deliberately hurt you." He whispered. "Please forgive me. I won't ever do anything like that again. I promise to be there for you whenever you need me. Do you forgive me?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, you are forgiven."

Jason reached up and kissed her. "Will you go out with me again, Saturday night?"

"Yes, I will, as long as you promise to call me again before then."

"I will," Jason smiled and kissed her again.

DMHGDMGHDMHG

Hermione got home late, and found Mandy and Blaise asleep on the couch. She decided to wake up the two lovebirds because she knew that they would not be waking up in a very comfortable position in the morning.

She gently shook them awake. "Mandy, Blaise, I'm home."

Without opening his eyes, Blaise swatted her hand away. "Just five more minutes," he mumbled. She shook him again.

Finally, he opened his eyes. "Oh Mia! Sorry about that! We put Haley to sleep and then we fell asleep. We'll be out of your way in a minute."

"No, no, don't go. Stay the night. You can sleep in one of the guest rooms tonight, and leave in the morning or something. I think I'm going to need some back-up when I face Malfoy in the morning."

"Ok, Mia. Just show us where to go. I'll carry Mandy in there."

After showing Blaise to a room, she decided to go change and go to bed. She tossed and turned for a few minutes, and unable to fall asleep, she decided to go check on Haley.

She pushed open the door and found Draco asleep on the bed, with Haley asleep on his chest. His arm was wrapped protectively around her.

Hermione tip-toed over to the bed and quietly picked up Haley. She gave her a kiss on the cheek and put her in her crib. Hermione turned around to leave the room, but found that Draco was awake and watching her.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

Hermione crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly. "For what?"

"For going and getting myself drunk. And forgetting about Haley."

Hermione fought the urge to yell. She pulled him out of the room and into her private study, where no one would be able to hear them.

"Did you even think about your actions, Malfoy? What would have happened if you hadn't fallen asleep at the bar? Would you have come home, completely drunk and inebriated, unable to know what exactly you were doing? Would you have unknowingly hurt Haley or me while you were drunk? How the hell could you have slipped like that? Think about the consequences before you go out and do something so stupid! I don't know how I'm going to be able to trust you again after this."

"You trusted me?" Draco looked up, surprised.

"Of course I did. I've seen you with Haley. You can be so loving and caring with her. And I trusted you with her. But after today-" Hermione was cut off by Draco's lips on hers. She was completely taken by surprise but sank into the kiss, thoroughly enjoying it.

Finally, she pushed away. As much as she wanted to do this, she wasn't sure if she could.

"Look, I'm sorry, Draco. I can't- We can't. I don't know if I can trust you." With that, she ran from the study.

Draco sank down into a chair, thinking. She didn't know if she could trust him with Haley or herself?

A/N: Eh, I wasn't too happy with it. And you all probably hate me for the Jason thing. But I made up for that with the kiss. Don't worry, things will get heated up very soon. Please review!!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!! I can't believe this is chapter 11!!

Chapter 11:

Hermione was avoiding him. Plain and simple. By the time Draco woke up, she had always already left for work. The only time she would actually talk to him was to confirm if he could look after Haley or if she needed to take her to Ginny and Harry.

Draco was amused. He had never seen her run away from something like this. He knew that he would be able to get her to stop for a moment and actually talk to him, but he also knew that she was extremely stubborn and wouldn't back down so easily.

Today, Haley was with the Potters; Draco had to take care of some business at work. Getting dressed quickly, he prepared himself to make a rare appearance at the office, where he was hoping he wouldn't run into his father. He intended to get in and get out as quickly as he can, hoping to take care of whatever crisis that was happening in less than a couple of hours.

Dressed impeccably in a black suit with an emerald green tie, Draco picked up his briefcase and apparated to the office. The scene was one of bustling workers: phones (yes, phones) ringing off the hooks, employees running here, there, and everywhere, and desks piled high with papers. The amount of papers that were flying around would suggest that Draco ran a newspaper, but on the contrary, it most certainly was not. One of the administrative assistants spotted Draco and called to him.

"Mr. Malfoy, thank goodness you're here."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at Draco, wide-eyed and completely caught off-guard that their boss and CEO was actually in the office.

Draco rolled his eyes." Everybody get back to work." He walked over to the employee that had called him and tried to figure out what the situation was. Opening the door to his office, he was surprised to find that the light was already switched on and there was someone sitting his chair, playing with a ball that had been on his desk.

The chair swiveled around and presented none other than Lucius Malfoy.

"Crap," Draco muttered under his breath. "Father! What a… yeah, um what are you doing here?"

"Well, I thought that I would just come and check on how the business is doing. See if my son is actually working." Lucius said with a big smirk on his face.

"Yes, well, I'm here and the business is doing fine. Thanks for asking, you can go now." He said with slight annoyance. "And get out of my chair."

"Draco, come now, is that really the way to speak to your father?" Lucius said, pretending to be hurt. Yeah, right.

"Father, I am a very busy man as I'm sure you know, and I really must get to work. Can you please get out of my chair?" He said, gritting his teeth.

Lucius got out of the chair. "Fine, but that's not the only reason I came by. Your mother and I want you to stop by the manor after work."

"What? Why?" Draco scoffed.

"Because, we haven't seen our son in a very long time. We would like to spend time with you."

Draco's eyebrows were raised very, very high. "You two want to spend time with me? I don't believe it."

"Okay, so your mother wants to talk to you. Same difference." Lucius said, waving his hand around.

"Get out," Draco said with a disgusted look on his face.

"Fine, but I will know when you are leaving the office, so there is no way of getting out of visiting your mother." With a swish of his cloak, Lucius Malfoy was gone.

Draco put his head in his hands and sighed. "I really don't need this right now. I don't even want to know why Mum wants to talk to me."

"Talking to yourself, mate?" A voice asked from the doorway, amusedly.

Draco looked up to find Blaise standing there, smirking. "Come in and shut the door, Blaise." He said tiredly. "How does everyone know that I'm here today?"

"Lucky guess. So, I saw Papa Malfoy a few seconds ago. What was that all about?" Blaise asked.

"He wanted to invite me to visit the manor today after work."

"Ah," Blaise replied, as if in comprehension.

"I wonder what they want."

"Well, it can't be good if _your_ parents want to talk to you." Blaise said.

"No. Really?" Draco said sarcastically. "How'd you figure that?"

"For all you know, they'll be telling you that you've been betrothed to some foreign witch who really isn't very pretty but your parents need the marriage to build up their reputation again."

Draco's eyes widened. "No. No way in bloody hell." He glared at Blaise. "You really know how to make a guy feel better, you know."

"Well, yes, I do possess that gift," Blaise replied, pretending to brush off some dust from his sleeves.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Get out, you git!" He threw something at Blaise.

Blaise ducked before the object could hit him. "Okay, okay. Look I'm sorry. I just came to see how you were doing."

"I am definitely not fine."

Draco shook his head and rubbed his eyes, not wanting to deal with work and not wanting to face his parents. "Stay here and keep me entertained, will you?"

Blaise shrugged. "I got nothing better to do. Hermione's kicked me out of the office."

"Oh, crap, I should probably call her and tell her that I won't be able to pick up Haley from Potter."

"Yeah, you probably should. I actually think she's in a meeting right now, so you'll have to leave a message." Blaise watched as Draco dialed Hermione's number.

"Hi Gr-Hermione, it's me, uh, Draco. I'm not going to be able to pick up Haley today from the Potters. My father dropped by and he wants me to stop by at the manor. So, if you have any issues just call me back on my cell, or if I don't pick up, on Blaise's cell. I'm really sorry, once again. Er, I guess that's it then. Bye." Draco hung up the phone.

"I should probably postpone this as much as possible so that I don't have to meet with my parents. I mean, this isn't that urgent."

"Yeah, I agree." Blaise said.

And with that, the two put their legs up on the desk, leaned back, and relaxed.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

At 5:00, Draco decided that he couldn't put off going to his parents house any longer. He packed up his briefcase and locked his office door from the outside before stepping into the fireplace to Floo to the manor.

As soon as he arrived, he dusted himself off and was surprised to see the sitting room completely deserted.

It was still light out, so he figured that his mother must be outside in the gardens drinking tea or sunbathing. He put his briefcase down, and snapped his fingers for a house-elf.

One appeared right away, and bowed as soon as she saw Draco. "Yes, Master?"

"Where is my mother?"

"In the gardens, sir." She said, her head down.

"Thank you. Back to your chores." He dismissed her. Just as he did, his cell phone rang. It was Hermione.

"Hello?"

"Malfoy! I got your message. Are you there right now?" Hermione asked immediately.

"Yeah, I just got here." He replied. "Why?"

"Do your parents know about Haley?" She asked sounding worried.

"No, actually I was thinking I would tell them tonight."

"Crap," she muttered. "Okay. I really don't like this, but please don't tell them anything that would put her in danger. If need be, don't tell them that I have to take care of her too."

"Okay, I guess I won't. But why?"

"Because, what happens when they find out that you have to share guardianship of her with me, a Mudblood? I don't think they would like that a Muggleborn is raising your goddaughter, or Theo's daughter."

"Don't worry. I won't say anything to compromise the two of you. I know how to handle my parents." Draco looked up and saw his father coming inside. "Look, I've got to go, my father's seen me. I'll be home in a couple of hours."

"Okay, thanks Draco. I really appreciate you calling me to tell me that you wouldn't be able to pick up Haley."

"Yeah. No problem. I'll talk to you later." Draco hung up the phone and greeted his father as he entered the room.

"Father," Draco said.

"Draco, good you're here! We're in the garden."

Draco followed Lucius outside. There were two people sitting near the pool, lounging on a couple of chairs.

"Mother?" Draco said hesitantly.

Narcissa Malfoy took off her sunglasses. "Draco, darling! It's so good to see you!" She stood up to give him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "How have you been, my darling?"

"Fine, mother. How are you?"

"I'm wonderful, darling. I've been missing you, though." She said, pinching his cheeks.

"Mum, I am not a child anymore."

"Oh, darling, I know, but you are still my son, and I shall show you affection in any way that I please." Narcissa said.

Draco rolled her eyes. "Of all the ways to put it," He grumbled. "Who's your guest?"

"Oh, yes, darling, this is Olivia Brenin. Her parents are good friends of ours." Narcissa said, but exchanging a meaningful look with Lucius. "She's visiting from France."

The girl stood up from her chair and took off her sunglasses. She was tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and had the body of a model. She stuck out her delicate hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," He said, shaking her hand. Any other time, he would have been appreciating the view in front of him, but he couldn't think about that right now.

"You must stay for dinner, darling," Narcissa said to Draco.

"Oh, but, I don't think-," Draco started.

"Marvelous. Dinner should be ready in a bit. Let's go in." Narcissa said, clapping her hands together.

As they settled into the living room, Narcissa and Lucius shared a look.

Lucius cleared his throat. "Uh son, there's something we need to tell you."

_Oh great, here it comes_, Draco thought.

"Basically, what we wanted to say-,"

"You and Olivia are engaged!" Narcissa blurted out.

"WHAT?" Draco yelled. Blaise had been right. He had been right that his parents would announce a betrothal, but not so much about the ugliness part of it.

"Oh, dear, it's not that bad. She comes from a very good family." Narcissa said, kind of worried. "This was agreed upon during your childhood."

"I can't even think about this now! I mean, I have a child to take care of! I'm not going to just change her life so drastically. She's only a few months old!"

"A child?" Lucius asked, standing up. "You never told us about this!"

"Draco, dear, what are you talking about? You got some girl pregnant?" Narcissa asked, looking at him worried, almost as if she didn't know Draco anymore.

"No, Mother, I did not get someone pregnant. She's my goddaughter. She's Theo's child."

"Theo's child? As in Theodore Nott?" Lucius asked, surprised.

"Yes, he passed away, remember?" Draco asked, angrily.

"Who's the godmother?" Narcissa asked, narrowing her eyes. "Or are you taking care of the child by yourself?"

"The godmother…is a friend. And her identity is none of your business."

"It certainly is," Lucius said angrily, "especially when you have a fiancée here!"

"Whom I met all of two seconds ago!" Draco roared. "I need to go!" He took his briefcase, and stepped into the fireplace.

Narcissa turned to Olivia. "I am so sorry about that."

Olivia had a smirk on her face. "Don't worry. I can get him to accept this marriage with open arms."

A/N: There it is! Another little twist. I hope you liked! Please review!!! I'll try to update again in a couple of days, but after that, I'll only be able to update like once a week!

Happy New Year to everyone!!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it!

Chapter 12:

Draco stepped out of the fireplace and set his briefcase down. He angrily stomped into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee, and even looked to add a shot of alcohol to it. He was not having a good day.

Hermione came into the kitchen, lightly bouncing Haley up and down to get her to calm down and go to sleep. She watched Draco quietly. Draco punched a wall, but immediately regretted it, nursing his now injured hand. Finally, he stopped what he was doing and turned around, leaned against the counter, breathing heavily.

"Malfoy?" Hermione said hesitantly.

Draco looked up. "Did you see all that?"

"Well, I first heard it, and then I came in and witnessed it, yes."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you two."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Draco said, running a hand through his hair.

Hermione looked at him skeptically. "You stormed in to the kitchen angrily and were slamming the cupboards shut. Maybe I'm just imagining things."

"No, you weren't imagining things." He said tiredly, rubbing his forehead. "The meeting with my parents didn't go well, at all."

"I'm sorry. What happened?"

"I don't really feel like talking about it. Maybe later. Uh, Granger, there was-"

Haley had started crying again. "I'm going to take her back to her room and try to get her to sleep." Hermione quickly rushed away.

Draco shook his head and went to his room, eager to put this day behind him.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

After putting Haley to sleep, Hermione decided to go over to Harry's and Ginny's to talk to Ginny. She knocked on Malfoy's door, wanting to inform him of this, but there was no answer. She wrote a note and slipped it under the door, hoping that he wasn't already asleep, and would attend to Haley if she started crying.

Stepping into the fireplace, she grabbed her coat and baby monitor, just in case, and flooed over to Harry and Ginny's.

Upon arrival, she was immediately greeted by the sight of the two of them sitting on the couch, sipping some tea.

"Hey, you guys." Hermione said hesitantly. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, no, of course not," Ginny said. "Please, come and sit. Would you like some tea, Mia?"

"I think I'll leave you two alone," Harry said, getting up from the sofa.

Hermione smiled appreciatively at Harry. "No thanks, Ginny."

"So, what brings you over here this late?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Hermione said looking at the ground.

"Malfoy?" Ginny asked with a smirk on her face.

Hermione quickly looked up and had a confused expression on her face. "How'd you figure that?"

"Am I wrong?" Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"No, you're absolutely right." Hermione sighed.

Ginny grinned triumphantly. "What about him, then?"

"He kissed me." Hermione said quickly and then covered her mouth as if she had just something dirty.

Ginny's eyes widened. "He kissed you!" She yelled.

"Ginny! Shhhh! Harry would freak out if he found out!" Hermione hissed.

"He must have feelings for you. I knew it! I knew it."

"No, I don't think he has feelings for me. I think he was just trying to shut me up. I mean, I was ranting about how I would never be able to trust him again and I'm guessing that he didn't want to hear that or something."

"You are so damn frustrating, you know that? You look too much into things. You make up all these excuses. What are you so afraid of?"

"I don't know if I can trust him. What happens if he breaks my heart? I mean, we've only been living together for a short period of time. And even then, we were still on cussing and insulting terms just a few months ago."

"In my opinion, that was just foreplay."

Hermione glared at her.

"I'm just kidding. Maybe he actually has changed. Maybe having to take care of Haley, or even just receiving guardianship of Haley changed him." Ginny said reasonably.

"I don't know. I guess you might be right. But, I am dating Jason now." Hermione said with a small smile on her face.

"What!? And you wait until now to tell me this? When did this happen?"

"Like a week ago."

"Oh, honey. I really don't envy you. You have to choose between Jason and Malfoy. That's a hard choice."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, I do not have to choose between them. I'm dating Jason. There's nothing going on with me and Malfoy." She said soflty.

"But you would like there to be."

"Yes. No. I don't know. I'm so confused. I mean he's so good with Haley, and yeah he's definitely attractive and a very good kisser, but-"

"But, what?"

"I don't know if he's the right guy for me. He's still a playboy. He went and got himself drunk a few nights ago. I don't know if he can be very responsible and hard-working."

"That was once that he got drunk, Mia. And he did come in second in your class, so he must be somewhat hard-working. And as for the playboy thing, I wouldn't know. But he hasn't been with any girl since he moved in with you," Ginny pointed out. "He's always either at home, or with you. And at that pub that one night. But that's it. He's basically given up his whole life to take care of Haley and to have you accept him."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

The ringing of the doorbell woke Hermione up the next day. Rolling over in her bed, she mustered up all her strength to open her eyes and hoist herself up to look at the clock. It was 10:00 in the morning, but she really didn't want to get out of her bed. Still dressed in her tank top and shorts, she slipped on her fuzzy and warm slippers and trudged over to the door, pulling her hair into a messy bun along the way.

Hermione was surprised to find a beautiful, tall, blonde woman standing at her door. "Can I help you?"

The woman looked surprised. She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and looked Hermione up and down. "I'm sorry, I must have gotten the wrong house. I'm actually looking for Draco Malfoy."

"No, this is the right house." Hermione said, still bleary-eyed. "Um, who are you?"

"I'm Olivia Brenin, a good friend of his family's."

"Oh, okay. Er, please come in. Make yourself comfortable. He actually went for a morning run. He should be back soon."

Just then, the baby monitor went off. "If you'll just excuse me." Hermione said politely to Olivia.

Olivia simply nodded and turned away, scrutinizing the house.

Hermione walked back into the room bouncing Haley up and down soothingly, and walked back into the kitchen. She took out a bottle of milk and warmed it up in the microwave.

She turned to Olivia. "So, where are you from?"

"I was born in London, but my parents and I moved to France when I was about ten years old. Draco's and my parents were very close friends."

Hermione nodded. "Oh, that's nice." She walked over to the microwave to get the bottle.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name." Olivia said, watching Hermione deal with Haley.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just not awake yet. I'm Hermione Granger and this here is Haley, my goddaughter."

"Oh, so this is the child Draco was talking about yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"Yeah, I was with his parents yesterday. He must have told you he was going to see them."

"Yes, of course." Hermione said, starting to feed Haley.

"So, what do you do for a living? I'm assuming this is Draco's house. It has his mother's taste written all over it."

"Actually no. This is my house. And I'm a fashion designer."

"Really? What brand?" Olivia asked disbelievingly.

Hermion smirked. "Royalty."

Olivia's eyebrows rose so far up that they were in danger of disappearing into her hair. "Well, isn't that interesting."

Just then, Draco walked through the door, his t-shirt completely soaked with sweat.

He first saw Hermione and Haley. "Morning," He greeted them.

Then he was Olivia. His face hardened. "What are you doing here?" He said through gritted teeth.

"I just wanted to talk to you." Olivia said innocently.

"Fine, let's go out, though. Let me just shower, and then we'll go."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

"What do you want Olivia?" Draco asked, exasperated. "Did my parents send you?"

"No, actually, I came by myself."

"Why?"

"I wanted to talk to you. Get to know you a little before we get married." Olivia said, wrapping her arm around his.

"We are not getting married." Draco said, pulling away.

"I don't see that we have much of a choice, Draco." Olivia said, sounding slightly pissed off.

"And why's that?"

"There might be some underlying…things that might make this marriage mandatory."

"Like illegal contracts and curses?" Draco spat.

"Yes." Olivia said tiredly. "Look, I know it's not ideal, but get to know me a little. I can be a lot of fun. You may even grow to like me. If you don't like me even one bit, I'll find a way out of this. Deal?"

"Deal." Malfoy said with a small smile on his face.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Olivia Brenin arrived in the fireplace of her room in Malfoy Manor with a smirk on her face. Her little talk with Draco turned out just the way she planned.

She went out into the garden where Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were both lounging about in the sun. "Lucius, Narcissa. I have some news about your son."

Narcissa took off her sunglasses. "Oh?"

"Well, I have gotten him to warm up to me quite a bit today. I went to talk to him and obviously I charmed him like no other."

Narcissa squealed. "Brilliant!" She clapped her hands together. "Now, we need to start planning. Oh, and we must announce your engagement!"

Olivia smiled smugly. "I can't wait. By the way, I met the godmother. Draco's actually living with her."

Narcissa stopped smiling. "Who is she?"

"A Hermione Granger, I think."

Lucius and Narcissa exchanged a look. "The Muggleborn?"

"I guess, but she is extremely wealthy and she is pretty. We need to take care of her, somehow."

"Oh, not to worry, dear. Everything will turn out for the best."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Hermione looked up from reading the newspaper and saw an owl pecking at the window. She let the owl in, which promptly dropped two letters off in her hands. One was for her; the other for Draco. She opened the letter and was surprised to find an invitation of sorts.

_Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy _

_Invite you to _

_Our Annual Masquerade Ball_

_When: January, 09, 2009_

_Where: Malfoy Manor_

_Time: Drinks at 6:00 p.m. sharp_

_Dress: Formal Gowns and Tuxedos with a mask._

_Please R.S.V.P by January 6._

Hermione was surprised that the Malfoys were inviting her to this ball. She thought that maybe the owl had delivered it to the wrong person, but then remembered it was specifically addressed to her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to face the Malfoys, but decided that they must be trying to build up their reputation and turn over a new leaf by inviting her. But something told her that it might not be the best idea…

A/N: ummm I wasn't very happy with it. Please review anyways! Thanks a lot!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed!! I have received 111 or so reviews for this story so far, and I really appreciated each and every one of them. So, please keep it up!  Read and Review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters of Olivia Brenin and Haley Alisa Carter.

Chapter 13:

Hermione was perplexed. Extremely confused. More like confuddled. She was still trying to figure out why the Malfoys were inviting her to their annual ball, which she knew would be one of the social events of the season. The purest of the purebloods attended, and she knew that they still lived by the old hierarchy of the magical world: purebloods, half-bloods, and then muggle borns. Even though Voldemort had been defeated years ago, the purebloods still took pride in themselves and looked down on others. So the fact that the Malfoys were inviting her lowly self to the ball was something beyond her comprehension. Malfoy was avoiding her for some odd reason, and she hadn't been able to talk to him about it.

She called up Ginny and Harry, wanting to get the suspicions that she had off of her mind. Harry picked up the phone.

"Potter Residence."

"Harry, it's me, Hermione."

"Hi, Mia. What's going on?" Harry asked.

"Well, something's been bothering me, and I was hoping you could help me figure this out."

"Okay, hit me."

"Well, I received an invitation to the Malfoys' annual ball, and I can't figure out for the life of me, why they invited me."

"Yes, well, Mia, you're not alone. They've invited us too, and we are just as confused as you are."

Hermione sighed. "Do you know anyone else that was invited, who usually isn't?"

"No, I don't, but you might want to talk to Blaise. He might know what it's about."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Are you thinking about going?"

"Yeah, we'll go check it out, see what all the hype is about. At least you'll have us if you decide to go."

"Yeah, I guess. Thanks Harry." She hung up the phone.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Later that night, a knock sounded on the door while Hermione was watching T.V. Draco was out with Blaise, so she was home alone with Haley. She got up and opened the door, and was surprised to find Jason standing there.

"Jason! What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I thought that I would just bring you some dinner," He replied, holding up a picnic basket.

Hermione kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you. That's really sweet."

They both walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, just comfortably watching T.V. and randomly talking about one thing or another.

"Hermione," Jason blurted out. "Would you like to go with me to the Malfoy Masquerade?"

"Oh, well, I wasn't really sure if I wanted to go. I received an invitation, but there's something suspicious about it, especially since I am a muggleborn."

"I wouldn't look too much into it. They're just trying to rebuild their reputation after the war, that's all."

Hermione nodded. "I'll go with you, but you have to promise me that we'll get out of there if I'm feeling umcomfortable."

"Deal," Jason said, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

It was nearly midnight when Draco got home. The lights were turned off when he got in, but there was sound coming from the T.V. He went to investigate and found Jason asleep on the couch, Hermione snuggled up against his side.

Draco's face hardened and he turned around to turn of the television. He shook Jason awake rather aggressively.

"Billings! Wake up!" Draco said.

Jason stirred slightly, but Hermione was the first one to open her eyes.

"Draco! Hi! What time is it?" Hermione asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Around midnight," He replied coolly.

Hermione shook Jason awake and said something quietly to him. Jason slowly got up off the sofa, gave Hermione a kiss and nodded to Draco before letting himself out of the house.

Draco turned to Hermione. "I know that this is your house, but if there's a rule about me not having girls over, I expect that rule to apply to you and whatever guys you're with."

With that he stormed off and locked himself in his room.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

The day of the ball had come and Hermione was extremely nervous. She wanted to make a good impression on the families that would be at the ball and definitely wanted at least Narcissa Malfoy to like her. She didn't know why.

Ginny had agreed to come over and help her with her hair and make-up. Her gown was strapless and a red wine color. The bodice was lightly beaded and very figure flattering, while the skirt was asymmetrical, with layers of taffeta underneath to give it fullness. She had a mask that matched the dress perfectly.

Jason arrived to pick her up at precisely 5:30 and was dressed in a crisp black tux.

"You look lovely," Jason said with a smile on his face.

"Why, thank you. You don't look too bad yourself." Hermione replied playfully.

"Shall we?" Jason offered her his arm graciously.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

They arrived at Malfoy Manor promptly at 6:15. Hermione was taken aback by the sheer number of people that were at the ball. The ballroom was a high-ceilinged room near the back of the manor with a view of the gardens. There was an extremely extravagant chandelier hanging from the ceiling and there was a winding staircase on one side of the room.

Hermione spotted Ginny's flaming red hair with Harry's raven black and made her way over to them, pulling Jason along with her.

"Gin? Harry? Is that you?" Hermione asked, pretty confidently.

"Yes, Mia. I'm guessing you recognized the hair. I really should have done something about it." Ginny said.

"No, I can just recognize the two of you, no matter what." Hermione said playfully.

Jason cleared his throat.

"Oh, yes, I've forgotten my manners. Jason, these are my best friends Harry and Ginny Potter. Harry and Gin, this is Jason Billings."

"It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you." Ginny said, shaking his hand.

"Have you seen Blaise yet?" Hermione asked, searching the crowd.

"No, but I have seen you-know-who." Ginny whispered.

"Ginny!" Hermione scolded. "Shut up!"

Ginny just smirked at her.

"Would you like to dance, Hermione?" Jason asked. Hermione took his hand and response and led him out onto the dance floor.

On the other side of the room, Draco watched the scene before him. He was utterly bored, and really had no desire to be there at the moment. He downed his drink and went to get another, but something caught his eye. A woman on the dance floor in a wine red gown, who was laughing at something her partner said. She looked absolutely beautiful to him.

Blaise crept up behind him. "Three guesses who that is." He smirked.

Draco turned around. "Do you know who that is?"

"Yup. But I'm not telling you. You have to go find out for yourself."

Draco handed his drink to Blaise and walked over to her. He tapped her on the shoulder. "May I cut in?" He asked Jason.

"Actually-," Jason started.

"Sure," Hermione said graciously. She looked apologetically at Jason.

Draco put a hand on her waist and took her warm hand in his.

"May I say that you look absolutely exquisite, tonight?"

"Oh, thank you." Hermione blushed. She met his eyes and immediately recognized them.

"Draco?"

"Hermione?" Draco asked, startled. "You l-look…"

"Thank you," she blushed again.

The two danced in silence until the dance ended. She excused herself and hurried over to where Ginny and Harry were talking to someone.

"Hey, Gin, can you come with me for a second?"

"Sure. What's this about?"

At that moment, the clinking of a fork against the side of a glass could be heard.

"May I have your attention, please?" Narcissa Malfoy called.

The room grew silent. "Thank you. Now, Lucius and I have an announcement to make. It is our greatest pleasure to announce that our son, Draco, will be getting married to the daughter of a good friend of ours, Olivia Brenin."

Then, a beautiful, tall and slender woman came down the staircase. Hermione recognized her immediately.

Draco's eyes widened in shock, but nobody saw it.

Hermione was even more shocked than Draco.

"Draco, where are you, dear? Please come up here." Narcissa called.

Draco slowly made his way to where Olivia and his parents were standing. Lucius presented Draco with a ring that he was supposed to put on Olivia's finger. As he did so, the cameras of the paparazzi went off like crazy.

Hermione fled the room as her eyes started filling with tears. She couldn't believe this. She and Draco were living together, taking care of a child together. And she finds out about the engagement like this? What was going to happen with Haley? And wasn't it just recently that Draco kissed her and basically admitted his feelings for her?

A/N: I wasn't very happy with it. Please review! I will try to update soon but I have finals this week, so I might not have time.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!! I am soo so sorry it took so long! But, finals are finally over! Please read and review!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and the characters of Haley Alisa Carter and Olivia Brenin.

Chapter 14:

Hermione fled the ballroom, wiping her tears in the process. Jason, Harry, and Ginny followed after her, glaring at the Malfoys on the way out. Hermione just wanted to be alone, so she quickly disappeared into the sea of trees that made up the borders of the Malfoy estate. She could hear her friends calling her name, but ignore them. For the next fifteen minutes, she paced the forest floor, ranting under her breath, both in anger and sadness.

She didn't want to admit to Harry and Jason that she had been crying over Draco's engagement, so she quickly took out her wand and cleaned her face up. She contorted her face into an expression of anger, and used her wand to help her find her way out of the forest.

Ginny was the first one to see Hermione, but she didn't alert the other two. Hermione flung her arms around Ginny's neck.

"I know that you weren't feeling anger, just now, Mia." Ginny said quietly. Hermione dropped the façade.

"What am I going to do, Gin?" Hermione asked. "He kissed me, admitted his feelings for me, and now he's going to go off and marry someone else. He broke my heart even though I didn't let him near it, and it wasn't even very long ago that I turned him down. You'd think he would wait a little longer."

"I know, hon. But he seemed just as surprised as you were." Ginny said gently, stroking her hair.

"What?" Hermione pulled back from the hug.

"I think his parents set this up. I don't think he voluntarily asked her to marry him, or even voluntarily put that ring on her finger. His eyes widened just as much as yours did when his parents announced it." Ginny said matter-of-factly.

"I don't know, Gin. Maybe he just didn't know that his parents were going to announce it to the public tonight."

Ginny shook her head. Just then, they could hear footsteps and the voices of Jason and Harry making their way over to where Ginny and Hermione were standing. Hermione quickly put her façade back on her face.

"There you are!" Harry exclaimed. "What happened, Mia? You weren't crying, were you?"

"No! Of course not! That idiot doesn't tell me that he's marrying that bimbo and instead lets me find out with the rest of the world. You'd think living together and taking care of a child together would constitute to being one of the first ones to know about this. I mean, what's going to happen to Haley, now that he's getting married? How will that Olivia person treat her? Am I going to constantly have to fight with him over who gets to see her on what days? I don't want this to happen! My life is going to be totally screwed up because of this!" Hermione ranted.

At this point, Harry and Jason seemed to be cowering slightly, intimidated by Hermione.

"Are you done yet?" Harry asked meekly.

Hermione just glared at him before bursting into tears.

"Hermione," Jason said cautiously, but had a passive expression on his face.

"Is this really about Haley, or are you upset that he's marrying someone else?"

Hermione looked at him. "How could you even think that? Of course this is about Haley! She's my life, right now. I can't lose her." She started crying even more.

Ginny put her arms around her and glared at the guys. "Both of you, leave. NOW!"

And with that, Harry and Jason returned to the ball, eager to avoid the suffering that was to come with Ginny Potter's wrath.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Hermione arrived home late that night. She found her mother asleep on the couch, tired from a long night of babysitting. Hermione gently shook her awake and thanked her for the favor.

Quietly opening the door to Haley's room, she turned on the lights and walked over to the crib. She watched her silently, and after a few minutes, picked her up and held her in her arms. She walked over to the rocking chair in a corner of the room and sat down, gently rocking Haley. She started softly singing to her.

Upon hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, Hermione went over to the crib and tucked Haley in. She opened the door, hoping to quietly sneak back to her room, but she found herself face to face with Draco.

"Hi," He said quietly.

"Hi," Hermione replied, refusing to make eye contact.

"We need to talk."

"No, we don't. You're getting married, and that's that. Now if you'll please move, I would like to go to bed."

"Hermione." Draco said seriously. "Listen to me!"

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows, expectantly.

"Look, I didn't know that was going to happen, tonight. I really didn't."

"Right. You didn't know that you were going to be getting married to that woman. The woman that actually happened to stop by a couple of weeks ago for a little visit. I can't believe you. I can't believe that I actually had feelings for you." Hermione pushed past him and locked herself in her room.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

The next day, Hermione walked to an elegant building in Muggle London, dressed in shorts and a tank top with a large duffel bag. She smiled at the memories she had of it from her childhood and the summers during the years she had been attending Hogwarts.

She stepped inside and felt a blast of cold air hit her face. Looking over at the reception desk, her smile became even wider at the sight of a familiar scene and a familiar face.

This was her other sanctuary apart from the ranch, a secret that she kept even from her best friends. It wasn't necessarily that she wasn't proud of it; it was just something she kept to herself. It was a way to express her emotions and another way to be completely free.

There was a woman who was slightly older than Hermione with short, curly red hair was at the counter.

"Hi! How may I help you today?" She asked politely.

"Hi Sarah," Hermione said with a smile on her face.

Sarah looked extremely confused, but soon realization dawned upon her face.

"Hermione Granger, is that you?!" She exclaimed.

Hermione nodded. Sarah came out from behind the counter and enveloped her in a huge hug. "It's been ages!" She squealed.

"I know, it has! I've just been so busy!"

"I'd imagine, considering that you are a famous fashion designer and all." Sarah said with a meaningful look on her face.

Hermione blushed. "So what have you been up to?"

"Nothing really," Sarah replied with a bored look on her face. "Same old, same old. But the real question is, what's up with you? Why are you here, of all places?

"Well, I needed to get rid of some of my anger."

"Ah," Sarah said in comprehension. "Man troubles?"

"Kind of, I guess."

"Lucky for you, we have one room open. Your favorite one."

"The Green Room?"

"Yup. Here's the key. You can use it as long as you need to."

"Brilliant! Is the fee still twenty pounds an hour?"

"Don't even worry about it, hon. You've been dancing here since you were two years old."

"But-"

"No buts. Get your body moving. I'll stop by to watch you. I've always loved to watch you dance."

"Thanks, Sarah. I appreciate it." With that, Hermione picked up her bag and walked to a secluded room in the back of the building. One wall of the room had a door that was not unlike a garage door that rose up and exposed the room to the world. She opened it about halfway and kept the blinds only slightly open. She put on a pair of socks and put in a c.d. full of slow and sad songs.

Walking to the center of the room, she listened to the music and started off by gently swaying from side to side, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. As the singing started, she moved to the music, following through with all her movements, being aggressive and angsty at the right moments, and just stopping and breathing at the right moments. Intricate movements were mixed with technical things too, like pirouettes and leaps, but she let her emotions dictate her impromptu routine.

She quickly forgot everything that was on her mind and got lost in the music, not even stopping for water, even though she was sweating like a pig. She was barely aware that she had an audience, both at the window and near the door.

Soon the c.d. ended and one of her movements had her end up on the floor, curled up slightly in a fetal position. She rolled over to her back with her eyes closed and her palm on her forehead, breathing heavily. There was a moment of silence, but suddenly a large round of applause rang from her audience. Hermione opened her eyes in surprise and got up to press the button that would bring the door down. She waved with a small smile on her face as the crowd disappeared out of sight. Sarah was among those standing at the window, but ushered the rest of them away.

She walked into the room and looked at Hermione with a questioning look.

"Do you want to talk about it, hon?" Sarah asked.

"Not really. Maybe later, though. I should go." Hermione said.

"Ok," Sarah said sympathetically. "Don't be a stranger."

"I won't. Thanks, Sarah." Hermione gave her a hug and collected her things, eager to take a nice shower and very long nap.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Hermione threw her things on her bed and turned on the T.V, anxious for a night of comedy. She flipped through the channels, looking for something interesting to watch. Spotting a couple of letters on her bedside table, she quickly made her way over to open them. One letter was from Harry, making sure she was all right. The other was from an anonymous sender. It was an invitation to the premiere of a movie that she had designed the wardrobe for.

Knowing that it was in California, and looking at it as the perfect chance to get away from everything, even Jason, she decided to reply that she would indeed be attending the premiere. She wanted to get lost in the world of fashion and Hollywood again, and she knew that this would be her chance to do, even if it was only for a little while.

A/N: There you go! Please review! Next chapter is the premiere, and I am seriously looking forward to writing it! I will try to update soon!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Thanks for al the reviews! I'm so sorry it took so long! I've been soo busy!

Chapter 15:

Hermione stepped off a plane in L.A., eager to get to her hotel and take a shower. She hated the smell that her clothes had after a flight and was looking forward to ridding her body and her clothes of the smell.

After collecting her luggage, she quickly spotted a man in a black suit and a hat holding up a sign with her name on it. She walked up to him and introduced herself.

"Hi. I'm Hermione Granger."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. My name is Frank. I will be your chauffeur for the duration of your trip." He took her luggage and led her out to the limo that her assistant, Lizzie, had booked for her. He held the door open for her so she could get into the car, and loaded her luggage into the trunk.

"Straight to the hotel, Ms. Granger?" Frank asked.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, Frank. After you drop me off you can go have lunch. I don't think I'll be doing much today, at least until 7:30 tonight."

"Yes ma'am."

As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Frank quickly opened the limo door and called for a bellhop to take care of her luggage. Hermione quickly checked in, eager to get settled in and to relax. She decided to call Harry and Ginny, who she asked to look after Haley, considering that Draco might be a little busy with his new fiancé.

Hermione shook the thought from her head. She refused to think about him or his beautiful, blonde, model-like fiancé. She was just going to enjoy her time in Hollywood, and drown all her sorrows.

Ginny picked up the phone. "Hey, Mia! How's Hollywood?"

"Fine, Gin. I haven't really done or seen anything yet. But more importantly, how's Haley?"

"She's fine, Mia. Stop worrying."

"Are you sure? I mean this is the first time that I've been so far away from her, and I'll be gone for few days."

"Honey, don't even worry about it. Haley is totally fine. Harry and I have been checking up on her and so has your mother. Malfoy seems to be taking good care of her."

"If you say so." Hermione said, still worried. "Have you guys seen Jason?"

"Not really. All I know is that he's feeling horrible about what he said the other night."

"Really? Then why hasn't he called me yet?"

"I don't know, Mia. Maybe he's just trying to give you some space."

"Whatever. I am in L.A. right now and I am going to enjoy my time here. No thinking about anything else," Hermione resolved.

"Have fun, Mia! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

DMHGDMGDMHG

That night, Hermione felt like blowing off some steam. Dressed in a red dress with a halter neckline, a draped front, and a banded bottom, which came to the middle of her thighs, and silver high heels, Hermione got into the limo and directed Frank to take her to one of the local hotspots. She felt like being someone else tonight; not the responsible, good-girl Hermione, but someone who was a little more laid back. So then, once she got into the bar, she was going to drown her sorrows with a couple of drinks.

Getting out of the limo, she straightened her dress and clutched her purse tightly, smiling for the paparazzi that were hanging out, hoping to see some of Hollywood's young and the restless sullying their own reputations. Waving to the photographers, she quickly side-stepped them and went up to the bouncer at the door. He immediately let her in after checking her I.D., eliciting groans of impatience and frustration from the people standing in the line.

Taking in the music and the crowd of people dancing, she walked up to the bar and ordered a martini. She was sitting on a stool, her back to the bar and her legs crossed, watching random people that were out on the dance floor, at the same time asking herself why in the hell she decided to come here tonight. After the bartender set down her drink, she quickly took a large sip, resulting in her gaining the answer to her own question. The thought of being absolutely inebriated and being able to just relax even for just a little while, had allured her here. She wasn't going to think about the hangover that she would have in the morning; it was all about living in the moment and having a blast.

A cute guy with black hair and blue eyes came over to the bar and sat down next to Hermione. "Hey." He nodded to her.

"Hey," Hermione said tiredly.

"Do I know you? You look familiar. I'm Braeden Miller."

"Hermione Granger," she replied, shaking his hand.

"It's nice to meet you. But that name sounds really familiar also." He said, racking his brains.

"Well, I'm a fashion designer." Hermione shrugged, taking another sip of her drink.

"Oh yeah, that's right! You were working on the wardrobe for _In Love and War_," Braeden said. "The premiere is tomorrow."

"Yup, that's why I'm here in L.A. right now. Are you going to the premiere?" Hermione asked.

"I am. I'm actually one of the producers and writers for the film."

"Oh wow, it's so nice to meet you. I read the script myself, and I absolutely loved it. It was so insightful and it felt as though the characters were really coming to life; like the writer had a real emotional attachment to the characters." Hermione said excitedly.

"That's definitely what I was aiming for. I worked my butt off on that script. I just hope this movie does well. I think you did a great job with the wardrobe. Exactly the type of clothing that I pictured my characters wearing."

"I'm so glad that you were happy with it. I had a lot of fun working on the designs."

"Oh yeah, they were great." There was a moment of silence as they both nursed their drinks. "So… do you by any chance have a date to the premiere?"

"No."

"Would you like to go with me?" Braeden suggested hesitantly.

"Sure, I guess."

"Great! I'll pick you up at 5:00. Where are you staying?"

"The Marriot that's actually only ten minutes away from here."

"The one on Palm?" Hermione nodded.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then." With that, he downed his drink and walked off.

Hermione motioned for the bartender to make her another drink. Just as she did another guy came up to her, but this one seemed to be absolutely drunk.

"Hey there, beautiful," He said, way too close to her.

"Ugh, go away." Hermione tried to push him away, He quickly staggered back but stepped forward again, putting his arms on either side of Hermione, resting on the bar.

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that. How about a dance?"

"No! Get off me!" Hermione tried pushing him away again, but he was way too strong. He suddenly bent down and kissed her, utterly disgusting her, especially since his breath smelled strongly like alcohol. At that same moment, flashes went off, capturing the incident. Hermione quickly kicked him in the balls, left some money on the counter, and quickly called Frank, wanting to get away from there as soon as possible.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Hermione woke up with a pounding headache, and quickly searched through the mini fridge and cabinets that were in her suite. She needed to cure this hangover, fast. She called the bar downstairs and asked them for something that could help her headache. Clutching her head, Hermione walked over to the bathroom to wash her face and then opened the door of her suite to get the newspaper.

She quickly went through the newspaper and was about to throw it away, but something caught her eye. On the front page of the entertainment section of the newspaper was a huge picture of her kissing the drunken idiot that had hit on her yesterday. Hermione groaned. "How could this be happening?" She said to herself. "And of course they don't comment abut the part where I kicked him in the balls."

She read through the small article that accompanied the picture, which basically contemplated whether or not she was in a relationship with the guy and if she was going to turn out to be one of those celebrities with scandal marring their names.

The phone suddenly rang, aggravating her headache, and thus her temper. She hastened to pick it up and muttered a string of colorful words as she did so. "What?!" She yelled into the phone.

"Well, I'm sorry for calling in to check on my best friend." Ginny said in a slightly hurt tone.

"Gin. I'm sorry. I'm not having the greatest of mornings."

"I'll say." Ginny replied. "Care to explain the humongous picture of you kissing some random guy?"

"Shit! You guys have seen it? Has Jason seen it? I am so screwed!"

"I don't know about Jason, but we are pretty worried about you, Mia."

"The picture means nothing. Some drunken idiot came up to me and started hitting on me, and he kissed me. That's it."

"Okay… If you say so."

Hermione could almost hear the smirk on Ginny's face. "What is there not to believe? I was assaulted by a drunken maniac!"

"Okay, I believe you. So, what are your plans for today?"

"I will be going to the premiere of _In Love and War_. And trying to find a cure for this massive hangover." Hermione groaned.

"Ah. Good luck with that. Anyways, I'm just checking in, seeing how you're doing. We are all fine in the land of the nothings, and your goddaughter is as healthy and happy as ever. She's being completely spoiled."

"That's great to know," Hermione said with a smile on her face. "And the 'land of the nothings'? Really now, Gin? You are married to _the_ Harry Potter. You are hardly nothing." She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Mia. I have to go. I will see you in the next couple of days."

"Bye, Gin." Hermione hung up the phone and decided to go take a shower in order to get ready for the premiere.

She absolutely loved the dress she planned to wear. It was something more suited for her than the dress she had worn last night. It was a gorgeous light green, vintage inspired dress with a round neckline and short white cap sleeves. The waist was cinched by a white panel, and it had a pencil skirt that stopped at just above the knees. There was some button detailing at the top, which gave it a retro accent. Hermione planned to wear it with light, peach-colored pumps, and put her hair all the way up, in such a way that her curls still showed.

At exactly 5:00, a large black classic limo pulled up to the front of the hotel. Hermione was waiting in the lobby, and she immediately stood up and walked outside, assuming that it was Braeden. The chauffeur opened the door, and it was indeed Braeden, dressed in a casual black suit.

"Hermione," Braeden greeted her, holding out his hand for her to take.

"Braeden," She replied, politely.

"You look stunning, I must say." He said, looking her up and down appreciatively.

"Thank you. You don't clean up too bad, yourself."

The two settled in the limo with a glass of champagne, and talked about everything and anything. Braeden was a very smart guy and had a great sense of humor. Sure, at first, he did seem to have a certain arrogance about him, but Hermione discovered that he was in fact, very down-to-earth.

As soon as they arrived at the theater, someone opened the door of the limo. Braeden stepped out first, smoothing out his suit, and then offered Hermione his hand, who stepped out of the car very gracefully. They stood at the edge of the red carpet for a couple of seconds, letting everyone take in their presence, and allowing the paparazzi to take a few pictures. The limo soon drove away, and the two walked forward, waving to the crowds and to the entertainment show hosts that were looking for exclusive interviews.

Soon, they got inside the actual theater and found their seats without being bombarded by too many reporters and paparazzi. The movie seemed like it would be a huge hit, and Braeden and Hermione thoroughly enjoyed themselves. In the middle of the after-party, Hermione received four text messages from Ginny, Harry, Draco, and Jason, all saying, "We need to talk."

A/N: There it is! I hope you liked! Please review!


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Please forgive me for the extremely long wait! I've had so many exams! In the next two weeks they'll be pretty much over and then I can update more often until mid-June because of finals.

Chapter 16:

Hermione threw down her coat and purse as soon as she entered her hotel room. She then proceeded to throw herself down on the couch, with the desire to avoid returning any phone calls. Figuring that she was only delaying the inevitable, she dug out her phone and dialed Harry and Ginny's home number, since they were the only two she could bear to talk to.

Harry answered the phone. "Hello?" He said a little too eagerly.

"Hi Harry."

"Mia?" he said in a surprised tone. "I didn't expect you to call me back."

"Yeah…well, I got your message."

"Well, I'm glad you called. You just saved me from a very angry redhead."

"What did you do?" Hermione asked sternly, as if talking to a child.

"Nothing! I swear! She seems to be having mood swings lately. You know, happy one minute, angry the next."

"Oh, well, tell her to take it easy. Tell her to relax and take a nap."

"Yeah, I will."

"Is that it? Okay well I guess I'll talk to you later then Harry," Hermione said hastily.

"NOT so fast. Nice try, Mia, but I'm not done with you yet."

Hermione sighed. "What is it, Harry?"

"It's about you. What's going on with you? Two days in a row we see magazines with front-page pictures of you with two different guys. What happened to Jason."

"It's not what it looks like. The pictures of me kissing that guy were not my fault. The guy hit on me and then drunkenly kissed me. I kicked him away after that. And the second guy is just a friend. We worked on the same movie together and we thought it would be nicer to go with a friend to the premiere."

"I believe all that Mia, but what about Jason?"

"Honestly, I don't think Jason and I are going to work anymore."

"I'm sorry, Mia."

"Yeah, well, me too. Anyways, I have to go Harry. Tell Ginny and Jason that I'll talk to them when I get back. I'll be home in a few days."

"Take care, Mia."

DMHGDMHGDMHGDMHG

Five days passed quickly, and before she knew it, Hermione was back home. She sat down on the couch and turned on the television. Draco and Haley were out of the house, giving her some peace and some space.

Levitating her suitcase with her wand, Hermione directed it to her room where she found letters upon letters piled on her bed. Most of them were from Muggle entertainment and gossip tabloids requesting interviews. She pushed them to the floor and lay down on the bed, hoping to take a nap before Draco and Haley got home.

Just as she settled down, the doorbell rang, making her let out a sigh of frustration and annoyance. She trudged downstairs to the door and yanked it open, an expectant yet annoyed look on her face. But the expectant look turned into one of surprise as she saw Jason at the door.

"You were in the middle of something? Sorry, I should have called."

"No, it's okay. Come in." She said wearily.

"We need to talk." Jason said, his back to her as he paced the living room floor.

"Yes, we do."

"I saw the magazines."

Hermione threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Great. Just great. You know that it's not what it looks like right?"

"Do I?"

"Look, Jason, that picture of the guy kissing me was when a drunk guy hit on me at a bar. I in no way returned the affections."

Jason was now staring at anything but her.

"I know you don't believe me, but at this point I don't really care. I'm tired of explaining myself to people, and I just wish they would let me be. I don't think I can do it anymore. I'm sorry Jason, but I don't think this is going to work."

Jason nodded, his lips pursed. "Ok. I think it's for the best."

With that, he walked to the door and let himself out, his head down.

A single tear flowed down her cheek, before she wiped it away. Jason was the perfect guy…for someone else. She walked back to her room and fell on her bed, eager to sleep the day away.

DMHGDMHG

By the time she woke up, it was already six in the evening. She could hear voices coming from the living room, so she decided to go downstairs and see if Haley and Draco were home. The television was on and Haley was in her playpen, happily sucking on one of her toys.

Hermione's heart melted at the sight, as she realized how much she had actually missed the little girl. She went over and picked her up, hugging her tightly. Haley giggled happily and pulled back, putting her hands on either side of Hermione's face. Hermione nuzzled her nose and gave her a huge kiss. Walking over to the sofa, she placed Haley on her lap and changed the channel.

Blaise walked out of the kitchen to check on Haley but stopped short when he saw that she was gone. He then looked to the sofa and saw Hermione with a smirk on her face.

"Don't you dare do that to me ever again!" He said walking over to the sofa. "I thought she had been kidnapped!"

"How are you Blaise?"

He gave her a look. "I've been great. What about you, missy? What's with all the scandal from the past few days?"

"Blaise, you know better that I do that the media over-exaggerates and only gives one side of the story." She said with a pointed look.

"I do know. What has Jason got to say about all of it?"

"Jason and I broke up."

"Oh honey, I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. It was my decision."

"Was it really? Or did you just want to get out of it on your terms? Before he broke up with you?" Blaise asked with his eyebrows raised.

"My decision. I even told Harry that I was going to do it."

"Okay. If you say so."

At that moment, Draco burst out of the kitchen, wearing an apron and with a spatula in his hand. "Blaise, what the hell happened to y-"

He broke off when he saw Hermione and Blaise sitting on the couch talking.

"Hermione," he said, his face softening.

"Draco," she nodded. She raised her eyebrows. "Are you wearing an apron?"

"Maybe."

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Hermione said, a teasing smirk on her face.

"If you must know, I am cooking."

"Cooking? Since when did you cook?"

"Since you've been gone and I needed to find a way to keep myself and Haley alive."

"Ah." Hermione said, as if in comprehension.

Draco nodded and stood there awkwardly. "Well, I should probably get back to the food before something burns."

Hermione nodded. She felt Blaise looking at her and looked at him expectantly. "What?"

"The boy's got it bad for you Mia."

"No he doesn't. He's engaged."

"Yes, but not by choice."

"We are not getting into this Blaise."

"Oh, yes we are."

"No we are not," Hermione emphasized.

"Think about it this way-," Blaise was cut off by the phone ringing.

"Saved by the bell," she muttered under her breath. "Hermione Granger speaking."

"Mia! It's Harry!"

"Hi Harry. What's going on?"

"Well, we were wondering if we could come over. We have to tell you something."

"Yes, of course. Come on over." She hung up the phone.

"What's going on?" Blaise asked.

"Harry and Ginny are coming over. They have to tell us something."

Just then, Harry and Ginny stepped out of the fireplace.

Ginny rushed over to give Hermione a hug. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"Just fine, Gin. What about you?"

"Well, that's what we came to talk to you about."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. Her eyes widened as realization dawned upon her. "Oh my God! I can't believe it!"

"You are way too sharp, missy," Ginny said with a fake pout.

"Ok, ok, I'll let you make the announcement. Trust me, my reaction will be just as if I hadn't already figured it out."

"Good. Where's Malfoy?"

"In the kitchen."

"Go get him. I want him to hear this too."

Hermione pushed the door to the kitchen open and held it open so that they wouldn't be alone. "Hey, Ginny and Harry are here and they want to make an announcement."

Draco quickly wiped his hands on a towel and followed her back into the living room.

"So, Harry and I found out some news yesterday, which we wanted to share with you." Ginny paused for effect. "I am pregnant."

Hermione let out a completely un-Hermioneish shriek, giving both Blaise and Draco heart attacks. She hugged first Ginny tightly, and then Harry, completely happy for her two best friends. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you, Mia. And yes, your reaction was exactly what I wanted after I myself revealed the news." Ginny said with a wry smile.

"We must celebrate! I should have some apple cider somewhere! Let me go find it."

As she walked into the kitchen, the telephone rang. "Hello?"

"Hi, may I please speak to a Miss Hermione Granger?"

"This is she. May I know who is calling?"

"Yes, this is James Clark from Clark, Johnson, and Associates. I'm the Malfoys' lawyer."

A/N: I wasn't happy with it but there it is! A little cliffie for you. Please review! And a little announcement:

I regret to inform you, all of my wonderful readers and reviewers that there are only a few more chapters to this story. I'm not sure exactly how many, but I do know that there will be AT LEAST four more. But there is a possibility that there will be more than that. Check out my other story, A History of Magic!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I really appreciate them!

Chapter 17:

"Lawyer? What is this about?" Hermione asked, confused.

"This is really something that we should discuss in person, Miss Granger. May we arrange a meeting?"

"Yes, of course."

"Is there any day that would be more convenient for you?"

"Any day is fine," she replied.

"How is tomorrow? We feel that we should get this matter settled as soon as possible."

"Tomorrow is fine."

"Great, let's say 3:30 at the Malfoy Manor?"

"Fine."

"Until tomorrow then."

Hermione walked back into the living room, a dazed expression on her face.

"Hermione, you okay? Who was that on the phone?" Draco asked.

"Your family lawyer." She replied.

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, he wants to meet me tomorrow at your family's place." Hermione replied.

Draco simply nodded and turned away. What were his parents up to now?

DMHGDMHG

The next day at 3:25, Hermione stood in front of the daunting doors of Malfoy Manor. She took a deep breath and told herself to calm down. She didn't even know what she was really worried about, just that if the Malfoys' lawyer was trying to get a hold of her, that it couldn't be good. Knocking on the doors, she was met with the sight of a house-elf looking up at her.

"Hi, I am Hermione Granger. I was supposed to meet with your masters and their lawyer." Hermione said kindly, but was disgusted that the Malfoys still enslaved house-elves.

"Please, come in Miss." The house-elf squeaked.

The elf showed her into the dining room where Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy were sitting, along with Olivia and a man she assumed to be the lawyer.

The man stood up and held out his hand. "Miss Granger, it's nice to meet you. I'm James Clark. We spoke on the phone yesterday."

"Yes, yes, of course. It's nice to meet you. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. Olivia," Hermione greeted them. They curtly nodded back and motioned for her to take a seat.

"Let's just get to the matter of hand. Now Miss Granger, we understand that you are taking care of a child with the younger Mr. Malfoy."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Yes, but why does that matter?"

"Well, as you know, Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Brenin are about to get married. Now, the family is afraid that the child will become a complication in this affair."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, the family wants to make sure that there is nothing that will compromise this marriage, and to put it bluntly, they want to sue you for full guardianship of the child."

"WHAT?!" Hermione roared.

"Miss Granger, please sit down and calm yourself." Clark said, soothingly.

Hermione sat down, still seething. "How can you – You have no right -. I was given guardianship in a WILL! Have you ever heard of respecting a dead person's wishes?"

"Actually, Miss Granger, seeing as Mr. Malfoy shares guardianship with you, he does have the right to do so."

"B-but why?"

"Well, in general, creating a stable environment for the child is of the utmost importance. When Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Brenin are married, they will be able to do so. As for you, Miss Granger, Narcissa and Lucius do not feel that you are a suitable guardian for this child." With that, the lawyer pushed some papers on to the desk.

Hermione stared at them. They weren't just papers. They were pictures. Of her. With three different guys: Jason, the drunk guy at the bar, and Braeden from the premiere.

"You are going to use my personal life, which is far cleaner than those of the soon-to-be married couple, against me?" Hermione asked in a deadly calm voice. "I was in a relationship with one of those men, the other, a complete stranger decided to sexually harass me, and the other is just a friend." Hermione said extremely coldly, rivaling the Malfoys' demeanor.

"Well, the pictures say otherwise, now don't they." It was the first time Lucius Malfoy spoke up. Olivia had a huge smirk on her face.

Hermione glared at him. "If you think you will win this case, you are much mistaken. You think that three pictures will give you enough evidence to defeat me in this case? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have an extremely clean record, which is not something I can say for your family, Mr. Malfoy. You know very well that the name Malfoy does not necessarily have good connotations to it."

"Maybe not, Miss Granger. But we do have the money."

"You think your money is going to save you? I have more money than your family does now, and I am respected in the Wizarding community. Even if you are feared, you can't blackmail or threaten anyone because that will be breaking your probation. It will be only a matter of time before you end up in Azkaban. Is this really worth it?

"You will not win this case if I have anything to say about it." Hermione stood up and started walking out of the room. She stopped and turned around. "Just keep in mind, that I am known for my… thorough research." She smirked and walked out of the house.

Narcissa Malfoy watched Hermione disappearing figure. After she heard the door close, Narcissa turned to her husband.

"Brave girl, that one. I also wouldn't put anything past her. I admire her for the confidence she just had."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Hermione apparated back home, still seething from her meeting with the Malfoys.

She slammed the door shut, startling Draco, who had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room.

"Hermione, what's wrong? What happened?"

"I can't believe you, Draco Malfoy," Hermione spat.

"What? What did I do?" Malfoy asked.

"I can't believe you and your family." Hermione said through gritted teeth. "I want you out of my house. TONIGHT!"

"WHAT? Mia, come on, be reasonable."

"Don't Mia me, Malfoy," Hermione spat. "The gall of you. I can't believe I actually thought you had changed. But no. You get close to me and then you try to take away the most important thing in my life. I want you out of my house in three hours."

Hermione apparated to the front of the Ministry. She quickly signed in and caught the elevator to get to the Auror offices.

As soon as she got out of the elevator, she quickly walked into Harry's office, thankfully not interrupting a meeting. Harry looked up from his desk, surprised, and then saw the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Mia? What's wrong?" Harry asked. He got up and went over to hug her, closing the door in the process.

Hermione could barely answer him. She hugged him tightly, sobbing.

Harry rubbed her back, soothing her. "What happened, Mia?"

Hermione pulled back, wiping her eyes. "They want to take Haley away from me," she choked out.

"What? Who?"

"Malfoy and his fiancé."

"But they can't do that."

"Supposedly they can. Since Malfoy shares custody with me, he can sue me if he thinks I'm not a good enough guardian."

"Then they won't win this case because your record is clean."

"Yes, but the lawyer showed me pictures of myself with three different men. The court will automatically favor the soon-to-be married couple. At this point I won't be seen as anything but an active young woman who likes her men." She said bitterly.

"No, Mia. We're not going to let them win this case."

"But how are we going to win this?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, you forget that you are Harry Potter's best friend. Anything is possible with me on your side. Not to be cocky, or anything."

Hermione raised her eyebrows and gave a small smile. There was truth to his words.

"Ok, the oh-so great and magnificent Harry Potter. How do we do this?"

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Draco stormed into Malfoy Manor. "Mother!" he yelled. "Father! Where the hell are you?"

Narcissa came hurrying down the stairs. "Draco? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Draco asked to gritted teeth. "You're asking me what's wrong? Maybe you can tell me. Why did our lawyer call Hermione? Why did she come home today, extremely pissed and angry that she had to throw me out of the house?" Draco yelled.

"Now, now, Draco. Don't yell at me. I'm only trying to do what's best for you." Narcissa said calmly.

Just then, Olivia came down the stairs. Putting a hand on Narcissa's back, she said, "Let me talk to him, Cissa."

Fully descending the stairs, Olivia put a hand on Draco's arm. "First, calm down." She ordered, sweetly.

Draco took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm calm. Tell me what happened."

"Well, I don't know why she overreacted so much, but we're only suing Granger for full custody of the child so that it'll be able to live with us once we're married." Olivia replied innocently.

"WHAT?" Draco exploded.

"We're -,"

"Yes I heard you the first time! Why the hell would you do such a thing? You're taking away the most important thing in her life!" Draco yelled.

"Why do you care so much?" Narcissa asked, curiously.

"I've gotten to know her, Mother. She is a good person. She doesn't deserve this." Draco turned to Olivia.

"I can't believe you would do this! We are not getting married, no matter what you or my parents think!"

With that he stormed out, apparating to Blaise's office.

Blaise looked up from his desk.

"Blaise, mate, I need your help."

A/N: Please review!! And I don't really know how this lawyer-y stuff works, and the custody thing, so please forgive me if I'm wrong.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you SO much for all the reviews! I hit 216! And, I can't believe it's been a year since I started this story. Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers for sticking with me, even when I was being flaky about updating. I love you all!

Chapter 18:

Blaise smacked his best friend on the head.

"OW! What the hell was that for?!" Draco yelled.

"Did you have anything to do with this?" He asked in a deadly calm voice.

"No! Of course not!"

"Good." Blaise said, going back to his desk.

"Wait! How come you're defending her over me? I've been your best friend longer!" Draco whined.

"Draco, even if we have been mates since we were kids, I love Hermione like a sister. She's been there for me when you haven't, and she deserves everything that she has in her life. Except for this – the fact that your family is trying to take Haley away from her.

"And plus, my chivalrous side seems to be quite domineering lately. When there is a lady in despair, I am there to help."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "So are you going to help me, or not?"

"Of course I am, you git." Blaise replied. "First off, you have to stay away from her. She's basically going to want to castrate you the next time she sees you. Hermione needs reassurance that you didn't betray her along with the rest of your family. She is fiercely loyal, and she does not forgive easily those who break her trust."

"Well, that won't be hard. She's already kicked me out of the house." Draco muttered.

"Don't tell me you went back to your parents' house?!" Blaise asked alarmed.

"Of course I have. I have nowhere else to go."

Blaise smacked him on the head again. "That was partly a test, you idiot. If you go back to your parents after all of this, what is she going to think? She's going to think that you did have something to do with this custody battle. She won't ever forgive you after that!"

Draco uttered some colorful words.

"You're going to have to stay with me, mate. Get your stuff and meet me at my house. I'm going to see if I can round up Potter and his wife, and the Weasel to help me go talk to her."

Draco nodded and went over to the fireplace. As soon as he disappeared, Blaise stepped in, yelling, "Harry Potter's House."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Blaise stepped out of the fireplace, brushing himself off, and finding himself in an empty room. "Potter!"

Footsteps thundered down the stairs, bringing Blaise face to face with Harry. "Zabini," He greeted. "What's up?"

"I need to talk to you. Is your wife here, by any chance? And her brother?"

"Ron isn't here but Ginny's upstairs. I'll go get her."

"Can you get Ronald over here, too?" Blaise asked.

Harry nodded, and disappeared.

Five minutes later, the four of them were gathered in the Potters' living room, curious about what Blaise had to say.

"Ok, so I'm sure you've all heard that the Malfoys are suing Hermione for custody of Haley."

"WHAT?" Ronald yelled.

"Ronald, calm down!" Ginny smacked him in the head.

"Damn it, Gin. What was that for? Shouldn't you be as angry as the rest of us? Malfoy betrayed all of us by betraying Hermione. I knew he hadn't changed. He's still a good-for-nothing ferret, whose -,"

"Quiet!" Ginny roared.

Ron cowered and stepped back. Harry looked at his wife in shock as Blaise smirked, impressed.

"Thank you." Blaise said. "Look, the thing that you all need to know is that Draco had nothing to do with this."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, right."

Ginny smacked him in the head, again.

"Why are you telling us this?" Harry asked.

"Because, he wants you and Hermione to know that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

"I don't believe that," Harry said dismissively.

"I do." Ginny said.

"What?" Ron asked in disbelief. "How can you trust him after everything he's done? After the relationship we had with him at school? You honestly believe that he had nothing to do with this?"

"Yes. I do believe I just said that, Ronald." Ginny said, irritated. "And besides, it's not hard to see that he loves her."

"WHAT?!" Ronald yelled again.

Ginny smacked him in the head…again.

"God damn it, Gin! We are not going through this again."

"Then keep your mouth shut, Ronald Weasley, if you know what's good for you."

"Yes, ma'am." He said, slightly scared, and sat down on the couch.

"As you were saying, Blaise?" Ginny said.

"Thank you, Ginerva." Blaise said cordially. "As I was saying, Draco had nothing to do with this. It's his parents and his fiancé that are behind this."

"So, what are we going to do?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I was hoping you would help me with that."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Draco groaned as he heard the doorbell ring, slowly getting up off the couch, where he had fallen asleep.

As soon as he opened the door, he instantly regretted it, trying to close the door again.

"Now, now, Drakey, is that the way to treat your fiancé?" Olivia asked, pouting, putting a hand on the door to stop it from closing.

"Olivia, for the last time, YOU ARE NOT MY FIANCE. Get that into your head, will you?" Draco yelled.

"Well, you didn't have to be so rude about it." Olivia said bitterly.

"I have told you time and time again that I will not marry you. How long will it take for that to sink into your head?"

"Well, quite a while, actually. I can be pretty stubborn when I want something. And I want to marry you, Draco Malfoy." Olivia said.

"No! I will not walk down that aisle with you."

Now, Olivia was getting pissed. "Well too late, honey. This ring won't come off until you marry me." Olivia said in a pissed yet smug tone.

"WHAT?!" Draco roared.

This didn't seem to phase Olivia one bit. "Did you not know? This ring is cursed. It means forever, for eternity, whatever. You get my drift."

"I can't believe this!"

Draco grabbed his coat and waked over to the fireplace.

"Where are you going, Draco?" Olivia asked, slightly put off at his rage.

"I am going to find a way out of this. I am not going to marry you, no matter what! I am in love with someone else and I can't believe that my parents decided to get involved! We'll see about this." Draco yelled before disappearing.

Olivia stood there, contemplating what he just said. And then she gasped, as something hit her. He said that he was in love with someone else. _The Muggleborn, no doubt_, Olivia thought. She absentmindedly played with the engagement ring and her eyes widened as she felt it easily twist off. "Damn it!" She cursed.

She told herself to calm down and kept the ring on her finger. _There's no way he's finding out about that_, she thought. _Not if I can help it._

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Draco stormed into his parents' house once more, furious.

"Mother!" He yelled as he stormed up the stairs. _Major case of déjà vu_, he thought to himself.

"Really, Draco. Stop all this yelling." His mother scolded as she came down the stairs.

"Mother, I cannot believe you did this to me! You made me put a cursed ring on Olivia's finger, so that she wouldn't be able to take it off unless I married her? How could you? You knew very well that I didn't want to marry her!"

"Now, Draco- "

"No, Mother! This is the last straw. I can't take this anymore! Do not think about butting into my life again! I don't want to talk to you ever again. You may be my mother, but I think I've had twenty-three years of enough coldness from the both of you, that it doesn't really matter to me anymore. Goodbye, Mother!"

With that, Draco flew out of the house. Narcissa Malfoy stood where she was, letting that encounter sink in. Her son didn't want to see or talk to her again. Just because of this stupid lawsuit and this stupid engagement. She quickly scurried to Lucius's study, not caring if she disrupted him while working.

As the door flew open, Lucius looked up. "What is it, Cissa?" He asked, slightly irritated.

"Drop the lawsuit."

"What do you mean? Why?" Lucius asked, confused.

"Our son just came into this house cutting us off from his life because of this stupid lawsuit! And we need to get rid of Olivia."

"I will not _get rid_ of Olivia." Lucius said. "But we will find a way to break the curse on the ring."

**A/N: There it is! Sorry for the long wait. I wasn't really happy with it. Please review!! Not too many chapters left!**

**Oh, and those following my other story, A History of Magic, I apologize for the long wait. I promise I will update this weekend after SATs are over!**

**And, please check out my new Fictionpress story! I'm in dire need of reviews!**

**.com/s/2677036/1/Lyrical**


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Hello, my loves! Thank you everyone for all the reviews and your patience! Oh and now, Haley is about 8 months to a year old. Please read and review!

Chapter 19:

Hermione paced the living room, still fuming at the thought that the Malfoys wanted custody of Haley. She grumbled to herself, occasionally throwing her hands up in the air, sometimes nearly blowing things up. They say magic is connected to the emotions…

Surveying her godmother in interest, Haley stood up in her crib, her head tilted. She let out a squeal as she accidentally fell back down on her bottom, but clapped in delight as she looked down and saw her favorite toy.

Hermione quit her grumbling at the sound of Haley's squeal. Her gaze instantly softened as she saw this adorable baby girl, and she leaned over to pick her up. Resting Haley on her hip, Hermione gave her a kiss on the nose, and tickled her stomach, smiling at Haley's giggles.

As the doorbell rang, Hermione set Haley down in her crib. Opening the door, she expected to see her mother or some other nice Muggle, but was extremely surprised when she saw Olivia's face.

Instantly angered, Hermione tried to slam the door in her face.

"Wait!" Olivia said, putting her hand on the door to stop it from closing. "Can we talk?"

"Why should I talk or listen to you?" Hermione asked.

"Look, I'm trying to make amends. Draco wasn't the one behind this custody battle. He didn't even know about it until you kicked him out of the house."

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh? You're trying to make amends?"

"Yes, look, it's not his fault that he put a cursed ring on my finger. And I can't help it either. If there were any way to break the curse, I would be on board right away. Frankly though, there is a huge chance that this is the darkest of magic we're dealing with."

"True, but you expect me to believe that you had nothing to do with this? You've hated me since you've gotten here to England, and you've wanted to marry Draco even more." Hermione said skeptically.

"Look, I know that Draco doesn't want to marry me. He's made it clear that he loves someone else. I need your help with this." Olivia said with what looked like genuineness in her eyes.

Hermione paused for a second. "Fine."

Olivia smiled. "Hug?"

Hermione looked at her weirdly.

"What? I'm really touchy-feely." Olivia said, shrugging her shoulders.

Hermione opened her arms, rolling her eyes.

Olivia moved towards her, hugging her. As she did so, Olivia quietly took out her wand and pointed it at Hermione's back. "_Avad –"_

Before she could finish her incantation, Olivia flew across the room, hitting the wall of the foyer. As she did so, Harry, Ginny, and Blaise stepped out of the fireplace. Their eyes widened as they saw what happened.

Olivia sank slowly to the floor, clutching her head. "What the hell was that?"

"You just tried to kill me or curse me or something." Hermione said enraged.

"Yeah, but Mia, you didn't use a wand." Blaise said, still in shock. "You just sent her flying across the room."

"I know." Hermione said defensively. "It's self-defense. She just tried to kill me."

"Ok, I don't think you seem to realize what just happened here, Mia. You. Just. Used. WANDLESS. Magic." Blaise said as if speaking to a child.

"Yeah, I know." Hermione sighed. "I've been able to do it for a while."

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know. I just never thought it was really important."

"Not important? Not very many people can do that!" Harry said.

"Ok, can we talk about this later? This bitch just tried to kill me. I bet she would have taken Haley if I hadn't defended myself."

"Woah. Did you just call her a bitch?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"My Mia is growing up," Blaise said proudly, once again as if she were a child.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Can we do something about this woman?"

"Yeah. I'll take her to the Ministry and tell them what happened. We saw everything." Harry said, stupefying her.

"Thanks Harry."

"What are you guys doing here?" Hermione asked Blaise and Ginny.

"We came to check up on you." Blaise said.

"And to tell you that Malfoy had nothing to do with the custody battle." Ginny continued.

"I know. Olivia told me." Hermione said.

"Look, everything is going to turn out for the best. The three of us and even Malfoy are going to make sure that they don't take Haley away from you."

"Let's hope so."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

Later that day, a house elf apparated into the house. Bowing immediately upon seeing Hermione, it asked, "Miss Hermione Granger?"

"Yes?"

"Master and Mistress Malfoy request your presence at Malfoy Manor, today at three o' clock in the afternoon for tea."

"What? Are you sure?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Yes, madam."

"Fine."

The house elf bowed again. "I shall tell them to expect you, ma'am." With a crack, it disapparated.

Hermione was so utterly confused. What could the Malfoys want with her?

DMHGDMHGDMHGD

Dressed nicely in casual, yet classy dark blue robes, Hermione stepped into the fireplace to go to Malfoy Manor. Harry and Ginny had agreed to babysit Haley.

As she arrived at the Manor, Hermione took in the elegance of her surroundings. For the most part, everything reflected a Slytherin's taste – not the dark magic aspect, but more the everlasting House pride. Ironically enough, the house actually seemed to have a somewhat cheerful atmosphere, most probably due to the sunlight streaming in through the windows.

A beautiful woman, with long blonde hair and striking blue eyes, walked into the room. She stopped for a second, as if evaluating Hermione.

"Ah, Hermione Granger!" She exclaimed warmly. "How are you, my dear?"

"I'm fine. It's nice to see you, Mrs. Malfoy." Hermione said politely.

"Likewise, my dear. And please, call me Narcissa."

"If you don't mind me asking, Narcissa, why is it that you have invited me here today?"

"Well dear, I think we should sit down first. Lucius will be joining us as well."

Hermione nodded.

"So, Hermione, I hear that you have a job. What do you do for a living?" Narcissa asked.

"Oh, er, I'm… involved in fashion." Hermione said vaguely.

"Really? What exactly do you do?"

"I'm… a designer."

"Really?" Narcissa asked excitedly. "What brand?"

Just then, Lucius Malfoy walked into the room.

"Miss Granger," he greeted curtly.

"Mr. Malfoy."

"Let's get straight to business." Lucius started. "Our son has cut us out of his life because we threatened to take away the child and because we are marrying him off to that nice Brenin girl. I don't understand why - ,"

"That Brenin girl just tried to kill me and take my goddaughter." Hermione said in a deadly calm voice.

"What?" Narcissa asked, clutching her chest.

"She tried to kill me. Harry just took her to the Ministry of Magic."

"Anyways," Lucius continued. "We have decided to drop the lawsuit. But there is still the matter of the ring. It was from Cissa's great-great-grandmother, so I'll leave you two to discuss how to get rid of it." Lucius got up and left the room.

"Hermione, dear, come with me." Narcissa said. She led Hermione into the library, which had huge overhearing black door, with gold trimmings. It seemed to be bigger than the library at Hogwarts, with a ceiling that seemed never ending. The shelves that lined three of the walls also seemed never ending, with pictures lining the remaining wall.

"These, as I'm sure you have deduced, are ancestors of both the Black and Malfoy families. It is true that recently, in the last couple of generations, pureblood families have become more and more obsessed with the idea of them being better than everyone else, and with accomplishing the goals that the Dark Lord had. I, myself have never felt the need to purge Wizarding society of Muggle borns, although I did at one point believe that Draco should marry a Pureblood. It was more Lucius that supported the Dark Lord, not me. I only supported him because of Lucius, and what might happen to Draco if I did not. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that our family hasn't always been interested in the dark arts. That ring isn't exactly cursed, per say, but there is a spell on it. Once the ring is on the finger, it is true that it won't come off in everyday circumstances. But, it will come off if one of the people in the relationship is deeply in love with someone else. That isn't dark magic, my dear." Narcissa said, with a kind smile. "And I'm willing to bet that that ring would twist right off of Olivia's finger."

A/N: Please Review!!! I will update soon! Just two more chapters left!


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: I am SO SO sorry about the long wait! I've been so incredibly busy with college apps and school, so please forgive me!

Chapter 20:

Hermione sat on her bed, under the covers, with a big tub of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, watching one of her favorite sitcoms on TV. Haley was asleep in the next room, and Draco was nowhere to be found. She couldn't help but think about the events of the past few months: her friend's death, getting Haley, all the drama with Jason and Olivia and Draco.

Hermione turned off the television and put down her tub of ice cream. She walked into Haley's room and pulled out a box that was in the closet, careful not to wake Haley. She rustled through it until she found what she was looking for – the letter Maddie had wrote to her before she died.

As she read through it again, there was something that bothered her. How did Maddie know that she was going to die? How did she deal with the knowledge that she was going to die shortly after giving birth to that beautiful baby girl?

Hermione's eyes filled with tears as she looked at Haley peacefully sleeping, without a care in the world.

Suddenly, she heard a voice calling her name. Hermione quickly wiped her eyes and went to the living room to meet her caller.

"Mia!" Harry said. "How's it -,"

Harry stopped his sentence when he saw her face – her makeup smudged, eyes and nose red.

"You've been crying." He said.

"No," Hermione said.

"Yes, you have. What's wrong Mia? Was it Malfoy? Did he come here and try to talk to you, or hurt you? If he did, I swear I'll kill him." Harry said, pulling her into a hug.

"No, it wasn't him. I was reading the letter that Maddie left me and it just made me really emotional, that's all."

"I'm sorry, Mia."

"And apparently there's another letter coming, but I don't know from whom and when. Anyways, enough about me. What are you doing here? How's Ginny?" She asked with a smile.

"Ginny's great, getting very emotional and cranky, though."

"Yeah? Well, get used to it, mister. You still have months to go."

"I know. That's what worries me. But she is getting bigger, and I'll be happy when the baby comes. We fixed up the nursery."

"Aww, that's great! I'm so happy for you two!"

"Yeah, I can't wait until the baby comes. I don't care if it's going to be noisy and constantly pooping and hungry – I can't wait to be a father."

"You'll be an amazing father, Harry." Hermione smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Oh, before I forget, you need to be at the Ministry of Magic today at 12 for Olivia's trial. We're trying to get her locked up in Azkaban, but her lawyers might try to get her into St. Mungo's insanity ward.

"What? No! She may be insane, but not enough to be let off and put in 's! She needs to be locked away in Azkaban!"

"That's why you need to be there. You are a very influential person in the Wizarding World, and not just because we're best friends. I'll be at the trial too as a witness, as will Blaise. But be there, at noon, courtroom 12!"

"Will do." Hermione said, wiping her eyes again. "I'll see you then."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

After leaving Haley with her mother, Hermione Flooed to the Ministry of Magic, dressed in black business robes. When she arrived in front of courtroom 12, she found Harry and Blaise already waiting outside.

"Mia!" Blaise called out as soon as he saw her.

"Blaise! How are you, love?" Hermione asked with a small smile on her face.

"I'm fine. Getting read to put that crazy lady into Azkaban."

"Good," Hermione said, giving his arm a squeeze. "Hi Harry."

"Hey, Mia."

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah, I guess I never really realized how tired I was, that's all."

"Ginny still giving you a hard time?" Hermione said knowingly.

"Yes," he replied defeatedly.

"I'll talk to her, Harry. She's new to this. You both are." Hermione paused. "By the way, have any of you guys seen Draco?"

"No, sorry Mia." Blaise said a little too quickly.

Suddenly, Narcissa Malfoy came rushing up to them, looking unusually flustered for the usually put-together woman. "Did I miss it?"

"No, you didn't. Narcissa, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked. Blaise looked at her weirdly.

"I'm here for Olivia's trial, of course."

"Yeah, but -,"

Just then, the courtroom doors opened. "Enter." A deep voice said.

Blaise walked in, followed by Hermione and Harry, and finally Narcissa Malfoy.

"Sit." The same voice said from the eerie darkness.

The lights finally came on, revealing the Wizengamot seated high above the rest of the courtroom, and Olivia sitting on the side, with her hands in her lap in magical handcuffs.

"We are here today to try Olivia Brenin on the charge of attempted murder. Is that correct?" They still couldn't see who was speaking.

"Yes, your honor," Harry replied.

"Who is speaking?"

"Harry Potter, sir, Head of the Auror Department."

"Mr. Potter, on what grounds do you make this charge?"

"I witnessed it sir. The intended victim is also present today, sir."

"And who was the intended victim?"

"Hermione Granger, sir."

"Miss Granger, stand up please."

Hermione did so.

"Tell us what happened."

"Well, Olivia came to my house a few days ago supposedly to make up with me. We have always been somewhat conflicted because she was going to marry my goddaughter's godfather and tried to take the child away from me."

"What happened to the child's parents?"

"They died a few months ago, and left the two of us to take care of her."

"Who is the godfather?"

"Draco Malfoy, sir." Hermione replied.

"Continue."

"Anyways, she wanted to call a truce and make amends, and wanted to hug me. As we were hugging, she pointed her wand at my back and started to say the killing curse until I defended myself."

"How exactly did you defend yourself, Miss Granger?"

"I sent her flying across the room."

"With your wand?"

"Not exactly."

"Then?"

"Well, I can sort of do wandless magic," Hermione said reluctantly.

"Wandless magic?" The voice said with skepticism. "That's very impressive. Very very few people can do that – and even then, only extremely powerful witches and wizards."

"Yes, I am aware of that, sir."

"Continue."

"As she was pointing her wand at my back, Harry and Blaise stepped out of the fireplace just in time to hear the curse and see me defend myself."

"Is this true, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, sir."

"Her lawyers seem to insist that she has always been somewhat mentally unstable, though."

"That is not true, your honor," Narcissa said standing up.

"And who is speaking now?"

"Narcissa Malfoy. I have known Olivia a very long time and has always been conscious of what she was doing. She is perfectly sane, sir."

"Alright, then. The evidence seems pretty conclusive. All members of the Wizengamot who believe Ms. Brenin is guilty?

"That's settled then – guilty! Ms. Brenin will be sentenced to 20 years in Azkaban. Dismissed!"

As the Wizengamot got up to leave, Narcissa walked up to Olivia. "Olivia darling, may I see your hand for a moment?"

Narcissa took her left hand and yanked the engagement ring off of Olivia's finger. "Thought so," she said triumphantly. "I am very disappointed in you, Olivia. What am I going to tell your parents?"

She shook her head and walked out of the courtroom.

"Hermione dear, could you stop by the house later?" Narcissa asked.

"Oh, yeah, I guess."

"Wonderful! Three o'clock!"

Blaise looked at Hermione weirdly again.

"What??"

"Well, first you call her Narcissa, and then she invites you over for tea?"

"She and I had a little talk a couple of days ago, that's all." Hermione said, defensively.

"Whatever you say, Mia. Whatever you say."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

At exactly three o'clock, Hermione flooed to Malfoy Manor, curious as to why Narcissa invited her there.

"Narcissa?" Hermione called out.

"In here, dear! In the library!" Narcissa replied.

Hermione made her way into the library but stopped as soon as she saw Draco there.

"Come, dear. Don't dawdle."

"Draco," Hermione greeted, emotionlessly, and walked past him to find his mother.

"Narcissa, what's going on here?"

"You need to sit. You two need to talk." Narcissa said.

"What? Why?"

"There is something between you two. I'm sure of it, Hermione." She held up the ring she had taken from Olivia.

"B-but how?"

"I told you that it would only come off if the man is in love with someone else."

"Who's Draco in love with? What does that have to do with me?"

"My dear, for a very smart and powerful witch, you are surprisingly not very smart in certain things. I'll leave you two to talk."

"But -,"

Narcissa hastened out of the room and closed the doors behind her.

"Great, just great." Hermione muttered under her breath.

"Hermione, I'm sorry." Draco said quietly.

"For what?"

"For everything you've been through in the last few months. Everything with Olivia and my parents and Haley."

"It's ok. I know the trial wasn't your fault. Olivia's in jail and Haley's safe. That's all that matters."

"Yeah. Are we okay then?"

"Yeah. You can move back into the house if you'd like."

"Thanks, I will. I miss Haley."

Hermione gave a small smile. "I should go. Haley's with my mom and I don't want to -,"

"Wait Hermione. I – I need to tell you something." He took a deep breath. "I think – no, I'm pretty sure I'm… falling in love you."

Hermione's eyes widened. "I–I n-need to go." She yanked open the library doors, and rushed past a surprised Narcissa.

She immediately Flooed home, and collapsed on her bed, completely lost and not knowing what she should do.

A/n: Well, that sucked. I am definitely not happy about this chapter. Anyways, please review!


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: A quick update this time, to make up for my three month absence. Please read and Review!

Chapter 21:

"Mia!" Ginny's voice came from the other side of the door.

Hermione didn't answer. She kept still, hoping that Ginny would think she wasn't home and go away.

"Don't try to pull that on me, Hermione Granger! I know you're in there! Your keys and your purse and cell are out here." Ginny yelled, banging on the door.

Hermione got out of her bed and reluctantly opened the door, nearly being knocked over by a very irritated Ginny.

It's one thing to annoy Ginny. It's another thing to annoy a pregnant Ginny.

"You have to stop avoiding everyone, especially Malfoy." Ginny said, her arms crossed over her chest. "Are you really surprised that he told you that he was falling in love with you?"

"Well -," Hermione started.

"You're beautiful and successful. You two are living together and raising a child together. Of course he would fall in love with you." Ginny said.

Hermione sighed. "I don't know what to do, Gin. It wouldn't work."

"I think you do know what to do, Mia. You're just scared to do it." Ginny said, reaching for a piece of paper on Hermione's bedside table and handing it to her.

"_Don't close off your heart or mind to any possibilities.__ Don't miss the things right in front of you. Be grateful for everything you have at the moment, even if you don't like the circumstances because before you know it, you can lose it all."_

Maddie's letter again.

"But I don't even know if I feel the same way."

"Yes, you do, Mia. We have had this conversation! You are in love with Draco Malfoy! You just need to accept it, goddamnit!" Ginny said, frustrated.

"Ok, let's say that I do have some sort of feelings for Draco. What would we be able to do about it? His parents want him to marry Pureblood. I don't know if they'll ever be able to truly accept me for what I am. And it's only recently that Draco really got over his prejudices."

"What about Narcissa Malfoy? She seemed very accepting of you." Ginny pointed out.

"Ok, then, his father would completely disapprove of me." Hermione said.

"Nice try, Mia. If his son loves you and his wife likes you, Lucius Malfoy will warm up to you eventually too."

Hermione scoffed.

"Ok, maybe not. But still. You can't let anything stand in the way of true love." Ginny said. "Just remember that. And think about it this way – Haley would finally be able to have a real family if the two of you got together."

"I hate you, Ginny Potter. That's not fair."

"Well, I don't play fair. You know you want this to happen."

Hermione sighed. "I know."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

"What do I do?" Draco groaned, rubbing his face with both hands.

"Look mate, you have to give her space. Give her time to think." Blaise replied, taking a sip of his coffee. They were currently in Blaise's office.

"Yeah, but I told her that I loved her." Draco emphasized. "I don't do that very often. And she shot me down."

"Drake, she didn't shoot you down. She just ran out of the room." Blaise stopped to think. "On the other hand, maybe she _was _shooting you down. She was probably repulsed."

Draco glared at him. "Not helping, jackass."

"I'm just messing with you. Look, I know Hermione. She's like my sister. You just need to give her time to process this. She needs to realize her feelings first."

"This feels like a really bad romance movie."

"You've been living with Hermione too long, mate, if you're comparing things to a _movie_."

Draco stood up. "I'll let you get back to work."

"That is much appreciated. You should try stepping into your own office and doing some work too." Blaise said with a smirk on his face.

"I might just do that. I've got nothing better to do other than also watch Hermione try to avoid me like the plague."

"She'll come around, mate. Don't look to much into it."

DMHGDMHG

Hermione stepped through the glass double doors, unbelievably happy to be back in one of her havens. She needed a way to express her emotions – her frustration, her confusion, her…love.

"Hey Sarah," Hermione greeted the woman at the front desk.

"Hermione! How are you?" Sarah replied with a smile.

"Is the Green Room open?"

"Yup, go for it, girlie."

"Thanks, Sarah." Hermione smiled gratefully.

Hermione shut the door to the room and immediately put in a cd with her favorite songs to dance to.

Her dance teacher once told her, "To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak." She started to move across the floor, letting go of every emotion and pouring them into her dancing.

_Standing here outside your door _

_Not sure if you're home _

_Wondering if I'm a fool _

_Maybe I should go _

Usually I'm fearless

_But I've become undone _

_A clown without even a disguise _

_Now everyone will know that I've_

Hermione stopped. She stood there, just listening to the lyrics.

_Fallen fallen, I've fallen in love _

_And I can't make sense of it _

_Don't know how this happened _

_I can't say for sure _

_But suddenly I'm incomplete _

_Sustaining on the hope _

_If you should see me face to face _

_If you could hear my heart _

_You might feel this terrifying something rising up and you've_

_Fallen fallen you've fallen in love _

_And you can't make sense of it_

Hermione couldn't believe how accurate this song was. She had always been incredibly strong, but now, in the face of love, she was incredibly weak, and had no idea how to handle it.

But after a while of dancing, she was surer about her feelings than she had been before, but still not sure if she was ready to reveal them to Draco.

DMHGDMHGD

Two weeks later, Hermione was ready. Instead of throwing herself into her work like she usually did, she went to the dance studio more often as a way of exploring her feelings. Every time she danced felt like it was an emotional catharsis, which helped her realize her feelings as well, letting her emotions dictate her movement.

Hermione got dressed to go to work and then went to check on Haley. She stopped at the door upon seeing Draco already in the room, bouncing her up and down. Leaning against the doorway, she smiled as she watched Haley thoroughly enjoy herself with her godfather.

Draco turned around and stopped what he was doing as soon as he saw her.

"Hey," Draco said.

"Hi," Hermione replied with a small smile. "Looks like you guys were having fun."

"Yeah, she loves being bounced and 'flying' around. I think we have a future Quidditch player on our hands."

"Just what I need, another Quidditch junkie." Hermione said jokingly.

Draco put Haley back in her crib.

"Draco, we need to talk." She started walking towards him.

He turned around and crossed his arms over his chest. Hermione couldn't help but notice the way his biceps bulged when he did that.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Draco asked.

"For the way I reacted when you told me… you know…,"

"When I told you what?"

"You're deliberately making this harder for me, aren't you?" Hermione asked, noticing the glint in his eyes.

"Yes, yes I am."

"Of course. Anyways, I mean when you told me t-that you l-loved me." Hermione stuttered.

"Ok." He said simply, starting to walk out of the room.

"Wait! I-I'm not finished."

He turned around at the doorway, waiting expectantly.

"I think, no, I'm pretty sure that I'm… falling in love with you." Hermione said with a half-smirk.

"Are you mocking me?" Draco asked, hesitantly.

"I'm completely serious, Draco Malfoy. And I may have been slightly mocking you." Hermione said with a smile.

"Good to know." Draco said, and turned around again to leave the room.

"Wait! That's it?" Hermione said incredulously.

Draco stopped and walked back to her. "Well, it's a hell of a lot better than your reaction was."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "That's not fair! You can't just use that against me! I've never been in love with someone and to have someone, especially you, to say that to me was a big surprise! And by the especially you part I just meant that since we were enemies at Hogwarts and -,"

Draco grabbed the back of her head and kissed her. Hermione instantly sank into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her legs were in danger of collapsing underneath her, but Draco's strong arms wound around her waist and kept her upright.

After a few minutes, they finally pulled apart for air.

"Wow," Hermione said. "That was a pretty amazing kiss."

"Yeah," Draco said, looking at her adoringly.

Before they completely pulled apart however, Blaise walked into the room.

He froze as soon as he saw their arms around each other. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Um, no." Hermione said, removing her arms from around Draco's neck.

Blaise raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I totally believe that. Do you take me for a fool?"

"Yes." Draco said, dodging Hermione's attempt to slap him on the arm.

"Screw you, Drake." Blaise said, glaring at him. "Anyways, I have a special delivery for Ms. Hermione Granger."

"What?" Hermione asked confused.

Blaise held up a letter. Hermione quickly took it and tore open the envelope. As she opened it, she quickly recognized it.

"Oh my God. It's Maddie's letter," Hermione said, not allowing the tears that were threatening to fall, fall.

"What?" Draco asked, confused.

"When Maddie and Theo died, Maddie left me a letter, and in that letter, she said she would have another one for me. She said that it would come to me at the appropriate time, and now I can finally have all my questions answered!"

Hermione proceeded to read the letter.

_Dear Mia,_

_Well, here it is. The long-awaited second letter. I know that you have many questions that you would like answered, so let me begin first with my death. How did I know that I was going to die, must be your first question. Well, before Haley's birth, I was visited by my grandmother, who is a Seer. Now, Mia, I know you don't believe in that stuff, but I do, so hear me out. We were having tea, when she was suddenly jerked into a vision. As soon as she was released from her trance, she looked at me with such fear in her eyes and abruptly got up to leave. I was so scared Mia – I had never seen her that way. She tried to avoid me for weeks, but I finally broke her down. She told me what her vision consisted of. She had seen Theo's and my deaths. An apparition accident would kill us both, just weeks after Haley is born. And if you are reading this letter right now, Mia, you know that my grandmother's prediction came true. I refused to accept it at first, even though I have the utmost trust in my grandmother's gift. But I finally came to terms with it, and I wrote out my will. They say that everything happens for a reason. And I believe that reason was to bring you and Draco together. Although I do regret not having more time to spend with my baby, I don't regret that it is you and Draco that are taking care of my child. I know that you will do an even better job than I could have possibly hoped to do. _

_Anyways, in regards to the previous letter, I was speaking of exactly this. You and Draco together. It was quite plain from the start that you were destined for each other – all that witty banter and unresolved sexual tension. You were right for each other intellectually, emotionally, and dare I say, physically. I figured that if your relationship with him started to become anything more, you would immediately get scared and try to avoid him, avoid what you were feeling. I know you, Mia._

Apparently too well, Hermione thought.

_Just remember what I said: Don't be afraid to take chances and cherish each moment. You and Draco will be so happy together, Mia. _

_Tell Haley that I love her and that I will always be with her. I love you all. Be happy, for my sake. Live. Laugh. Love._

_And with all my love,_

_Madison Carter_

A/N: I can't believe this is the second to last chapter!! Only the epilogue is left, but I'm going to try and make it longer than the other chapters. PLEASE Review since there is only one chapter left! : /

And I will eventually go back and repost and re-edit this story! It'll be interesting to see how my writing has changed or will change.

Oh and please check out my new story The BackUp Plan and my other story History of Magic! They are in dire need of reviews. : P


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Well, here it is! The last chapter – the epilogue! Please review even though the story is complete! I can't believe that it's over! : /**

**Warning: inordinate amounts of fluff. ; )**

Epilogue:

One year later…

Draco slowly turned around in place, taking in his surroundings. Everything was absolutely perfect, and he knew that Hermione would love it. He put his hands in his pockets and smiled as one of them came into contact with a square velvet box. The ring was perfect, and he knew that Hermione would love it.

He took a deep breath. He was slightly nervous about proposing to Hermione, and hoped that everything would go off without a hitch. Wanting to surprise her, he didn't make a huge deal about dressing formally in black tie. Draco simply told her to dress in a classy yet casual manner.

Looking at his watch, Draco disapparated with a pop, instantly arriving in front of Hermione's door. Even though they still lived together, Draco thought it would be appropriate to pick her up for the date.

He rang the doorbell, nervously playing with his hands. He couldn't believe that tonight was the night, and he couldn't believe that he was actually proposing. What happened to the playboy bachelor he once was?

As Hermione opened the door, Draco's eyes widened. Right there. That was his answer. This beautiful woman who had stepped into his life and willingly put aside all of their past problems just so that they could peacefully raise their beautiful goddaughter.

Hermione was currently wearing a white sundress that brought out her tan, and her curly hair framed her face perfectly. "Draco," She said with a smile. "What are you doing ringing the doorbell? You live here, do you not?"

"Well, I wanted this to seem like a real date. You know, with the man picking up the woman from her house and all that jazz."

"Ok then. I will be ready in a couple of minutes. You can have a seat in the living room. Don't mind my roommate though – he's a bit of an annoying, grumpy, conceited asshole, if you know what I mean." Hermione said with a devilish glint in her eye.

"Yeah – wait, what?! Is that really what you think of me, Mia?" Draco asked, pouting.

"Of course not, you big goof. You know I'm just teasing. He's actually a very sweet, handsome gentleman."

"I know," Draco said smugly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Hermione raised her eyebrows and gave him a small smile. "Where's Haley right now?"

"Oh, she's with Potter and them. I figured that we could use a break tonight."

"Draco Abraxas Malfoy, are you saying that our goddaughter is a nuisance and a burden?" Hermione said, looking quite pissed.

"What, no, of course not! Mia, I was merely suggesting -,"

"I know, Draco, I was just teasing," Hermione interrupted with a smirk on her face.

"You've been hanging around me too much, my devious little witch."

"I know." Hermione replied smugly. "Which isn't necessarily a good thing."

Draco shook his head smiling. "Are you ready to go yet, love?"

"Yes, let me just grab my purse." Hermione did exactly that and grabbed her coat. "Where are we going?"

"That, my dear, is for me to know and you to find out." Draco held out his arm for Hermione to take. "Hold on tight – we're apparating there."

Just seconds later, they materialized into a meadow. Hermione saw two horses, a bay and a black one, tied up loosely so that they could still graze.

"First, we're going to go for a ride." Draco said, smiling.

Hermione first smiled but quickly frowned. "But Draco, I'm not even dressed for that. I'm wearing a dress."

"Not to worry, my dear. I have a change of clothes for you and your riding boots. You can change over there – I put up a spell already so that no one will be able to see you until you leave that area."

Hermione took the clothes and quickly changed, excited to go for a ride. She also wondered was Draco was up to…

"I'm ready!" Hermione said just a couple minutes later.

"Ok. You, Mia, are going to be riding that bay horse over there."

Hermione walked over to the horse and looked him over. "He's beautiful," Hermione gushed. "Beautiful conformation, strong hindquarters."

"Well, get on. See how you like him." Draco said, already mounted on the pure black horse.

"Is he an Andalusian?"

"Yup. And the one I'm riding is an Arabian."

"They're beautiful. What are their names?"

"The bay is Ripley. The black is Frisco."

They rode in a comfortable silence. The trees loomed over them, filtering only some of the sunlight. It was so peaceful – with birds perched on branches, almost as if they were watching over them. As they rode on, they saw more horses grazing in their pastures, or even galloping around freely.

"Let's trot for a while," Draco said. Hermione nodded in response while signaling her horse to do so.

Hermione sat the trot, impressed with how smoothly the horse moved. Her other horses tended to have a bumpier trot, which made it a little harder to sit to.

Hermione had a sudden urge to go faster. "Let's canter. I want to feel how his canter is if his trot is this smooth." As they both signaled their horses to canter, Hermione felt the adrenaline going to her head. She had an idea.

"Let's race."

"What? Are you sure, because I could easily beat you?"

"Yeah, right. You wanna bet?" Hermione said, a smirk on her face. "You forget that I train horses and prepare them for their races."

"Yes, but I also have the horse with the most stamina."

"True, but we're basically going through a cross-country course. My horse has the strong hindquarters and is obviously a jumper."

"Ok, I guess we'll find out. On the count of three. One. Two -,"

"Three!" Hermione quickly signaled her horse to gallop before Draco had the chance to.

"Hey! You cheated," Draco yelled, going after her. He hunched over slightly and gave his horse more rein, to get him to go faster.

Within seconds, the two were neck and neck. "Impressive," Hermione yelled, looking straight ahead. She could feel Draco's eyes on her, and could see him smirk from the corner of her eye. "But not impressive enough." She urged Ripley to go even faster, and stood up slightly in the saddle and hunched over. Horse and rider jumped over a fallen tree completely in sync.

"Damn it!" Hermione heard Draco curse. She looked back over her shoulder, and saw Draco trying to get Frisco under control by moving him around in a circle before allowing him to go over the obstacle. Looking back in front of her, she saw a stream, and prepared to jump over it as well. She heard the thundering of hooves behind her and gave Ripley more rein, not even bothering to look back.

Within minutes she found herself back in the meadow where they started. Hermione saw a picnic basket and blanket laid out on the grass. She dismounted and petted Ripley, giving him a kiss on his nose. "You're such a good boy, aren't you? Yes you are," Hermione cooed to Ripley.

She took off his saddle and bridle to cool him off, and let him graze. Hermione changed back into her dress and wondered where Draco was. He hadn't been that far behind her.

Looking around, she decided to sit down on the picnic blanket. Ripley ambled over to her nudged her shoulder. Hermione reached up and patted his nose. Suddenly, she saw something moving from behind the trees.

A certain toddler came waddling out of the trees, something clutched in her hands. She stumbled a couple of times, but being the brave little tot that she is, picked herself right up and walked over to her godmother. Haley had a huge smile on her face, and put up her hands as signal to be picked up. Hermione gave Haley a huge hug, and Haley instantly gave her a kiss on each cheek.

"Hi sweetie! Where did you come from? I thought you would be with Uncle Harry tonight." Hermione said.

Haley started playing with whatever she was in her hands.

"And what's this? What are you playing with, baby girl?" Hermione gently took the box from her hands and opened it. She gasped.

Inside she found the most beautiful ring. It was a vintage-style, platinum ring, with an intricate filigree design. There was one central diamond, surrounded by many other small, European cut diamonds.

Hermione looked up and saw Draco coming out from the trees. His horse had already joined Ripley, grazing.

When he reached Haley and Hermione, he knelt down and placed Haley on the knee that was up. "Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"

Hermione looked from Draco to Haley and back to Draco again, tears in her eyes.

"That's not fair. You can't put Haley in front of me, knowing that she's my weakness and will make me say yes to anything." Hermione said through her tear. "But of course I will marry you, you arrogant, idiotic, charming, man."

Draco smiled and took her face between his two hands. "I love you so much, Hermione Granger." He gave her a long, lingering kiss.

He looked down at Haley and smiled. "Good work, kid. I knew you could do it."

Hermione smacked his arm but smiled at the same time. Draco took the ring and slid it onto her finger. Turning towards the woods, once again, he yelled out, "Hey guys, come on out. She said yes!"

Hermione looked over and saw Harry, Ginny, Blaise, Mandy, and Ronald walking over. Ginny ran over to her and squealed. "Oh my God, I can't believe it! You're getting married! Show me the ring!"

"Ginny, calm down." Hermione said with a smile.

"What? I can't help it. My best friend is getting married!"

Hermione laughed. "Gin, I'm going to ask you this even with the risk that you will probably implode from all the excitement. Will you be my maid of honor?"

Ginny's eyes widened. "Of course!" She squealed.

"Congratulations Mia," Harry and Blaise said simultaneously.

"Thanks, guys." She said, hugging both of them. Mandy came over and offered her congratulations, as well.

"Mia!" Draco called, motioning her over.

"What?"

"How did you like the horse?"

"He was absolutely amazing. He had the smoothest gallop I have ever seen. And when he jumped… he got so excited," Hermione said with a far-off look on her face.

"Well then, he's yours."

"What? Seriously?"

"Yup! I bought him for you, but I just wanted to make sure that you enjoyed riding him before I told you."

"Thank you so much, Draco!" Hermione hugged him.

"Anything for you, my love."

DMHGDMHGDMHGDMHG

**Six months later…**

"I can't believe today's the day," Hermione said, smoothing out her dress. It was a strapless white dress with red silk lining the top of it, reaching the back corset and flaring out in an upside down 'V' at the back. "I'm getting married today."

"Well, believe it. Narcissa would have made you wait another year or so just so that she could throw that big society wedding for you and her precious son." Ginny said.

"I know. But there's no way I could have waited that long."

They were interrupted by Narcissa Malfoy, herself.

"Hermione, darling, ten minutes until we start."

"Thank you, Cissa."

Just as she was about to leave, Narcissa turned and stopped. "You look beautiful, Hermione. My son is a very lucky man."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you, Cissa."

"Take care of him, will you?" Narcissa said, coming over to hug her.

"Of course, Cissa."

"We'll see you in a few."

Harry stepped into the room just minutes later. "Wow, Mia, you look…incredible."

"Thanks, Harry. What are you doing here instead of with Draco?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I had a talk with Malfoy."

"Ok…" Hermione said, confused. "And?"

"He knows that if he hurts you in any way, he's going to be a dead man."

"Harry, I appreciate it, but you don't have to keep protecting me. I'm a big girl now."

"I know, Mia, but you're like my sister, and I love you."

"I love you too. Now, I know you're only here to spy on me for Draco. So get out."

"What? I'd never -,"

"Goodbye, Harry." Hermione said as Ginny pushed him out of the door.

Five minutes later, Narcissa came into the room again. "We're ready for you, Hermione dear."

Hermione adjusted her tiara and stepped outside into the hall where her father and the bridesmaids were waiting for her. She had asked Ginny, Mandy and Luna to be her bridesmaids. Haley was the flower girl, and Ginny and Harry's son James was the ring bearer.

Her father greeted her with tears in his eyes, unable to believe that his daughter was getting married already.

The music started and one by one, the wedding party proceeded down the aisle. As Hermione took her father's arm, she took in her surroundings. Everything was absolutely perfect.

They had decided on a winter wedding. The hotel they were in as of that moment was in the far north. The room where the ceremony was taking place was made up of two side glass walls. It was snowing outside, and the snow-covered fir trees and their Christmas lights were clearly visible. The room itself was dimly lit – hundreds of candles scattered around the place, and the pews were lined with red and white amaryllis flowers.

She looked towards Draco who was looking at her with the utmost adoration and love. When she reached the altar, her father kissed both of her cheeks.

"Who gives this woman to be married to this man?" The minister asked.

"Her mother and I do," Hermione's father answered.

"Welcome dearly beloved. A day that is touched by love is a beautiful one. May this be a moment to be remembered and cherished. We are here today to witness and bless the union of this man and woman in Holy Matrimony. They have selected to recite their own vows, so Miss Granger may go first."

Hermione looked at the Minister and then at Draco, a smile on her face. "Draco, we have come to understand that love is more than love letters and poetry or the seemingly simple romance in movies. We have come to know that love is real and true and one of the most important things in our lives. We were forced to come together for the sake of our goddaughter, one of the biggest blessings in my life. And that blessing led me to another: you. We were forced to work together to raise her, and we slowly learned to respect each other and to love each other. I love you so much, Draco Abraxas Malfoy, and I take you in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, until death do us part."

Hermione put a platinum wedding band on his finger.

"Hermione, after our past relationship at school, I never thought you could forgive me. But you, being the saint that you are, looked past my faults and accepted me. Over the past year, our relationship has grown so much, and I have learned what love is and what marriage will mean. I know that it is never being too old to hold hands; it is never taking the other for granted and doing things for each other because we want to, and not because we have to. It is the common search to find the good and the beautiful in each other. And it is also about being the right partner. I will do my damndest to be the loving, supportive husband that I know I can be. My life with you will be complete. I promise to stand by you, to always love and to honor you for as long as we both shall live. I take you for everything that you are, and I will never leave you. I love you, Hermione Granger."

Draco slid the wedding band onto her ring finger.

"I know pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride!" The minister said.

Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and kissed her as she wound her arms around his neck. The crowd cheered until they broke apart and started walking back down the aisle.

DMHGDMHGDMHG

At the reception later that night, Hermione smiled as Blaise and Harry finished their toasts. Everyone raised their glasses and clinked them together, drinking to Hermione and Draco's marriage. Ginny tried to hand her a champagne glass, but Hermione tried to refuse.

Refusing to listen to Hermione's objections, Ginny forced the champagne into her hand. "It's your wedding. You should have a little bit to drink."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fine." She took the glass and pretended to drink. "Ok, I had some. Happy?"

"You didn't drink any. Why aren't you - ," Ginny broke off and her eyes widened. "Oh my god. Are you -,"

Hermione tried to hide her smile, but failed and nodded her head.

Ginny squealed. "I can't believe it! I'm so excited for you! When did you find out?"

"Last night."

"Does Draco know?"

"Not yet. I was going to tell him later."

"Tell him now!! Go!"

At that point, Draco had turned to them. "What are you guys whispering about over here?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "Draco, I have to tell you something."

"Ok, this doesn't sound so good."

"No. It is, or it should be. Hopefully it is. I think it is, and I think you would think it is, especially considering the events of the last year or so -,"

"Mia, you're rambling."

"Right, sorry. Draco, I'm… pregnant."

"What? Are you sure?"

"A hundred percent."

"I can't believe it. This is so amazing. I'm going to be a father."

Hermione smacked him lightly in the chest. "You're already a father."

"I meant biologically. You know that I love Haley with all my heart."

"I know. And I also know that you love will love you son or daughter with all your heart as well."

DMHGDMHGDMHG

**17 Years Later…**

"Kiara Elizabeth Malfoy, where the hell have you been?" Draco Malfoy asked in a deadly calm voice.

"Nowhere, Daddy. I was just hanging out with a couple school friends. That's all." She replied, innocently. "I'm really sorry if I worried you, Daddy."

"Who were you hanging out with? That Zabini boy? I'll kill him!" Draco roared.

Hermione came down the stairs wrapping her robe around her sleepily. "What's going on here? Draco, why are you yelling?"

"I just caught Kiara sneaking back into the house after being with a boy this whole time."

"And?" Hermione asked.

"What do you mean? She broke her curfew."

"No, she didn't Draco. She's actually early." Hermione said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What? I thought her curfew was midnight."

"No, it's actually one o' clock. You can go to bed, Kiara. She's an adult now, darling. You have to accept that."

"I don't want to," Draco replied stubbornly.

"Well, get over it. Your little girl is growing up, and you have to start letting her go. You also have to start trusting her to make the right decisions. And plus, Jacob Zabini is a perfectly nice boy."

"No he's not. He's a teenager, and you know that teenage boys only have one thing on their minds."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, and I don't trust him."

"Well, that's too bad. We went through this with Haley, and we are not going through this again with Kiara. And plus, it's a complete double standard. Tristan is the same age, and you don't get on his case for breaking curfew. You need to treat the twins equally."

"Yeah, but Tristan is a young man. He is perfectly capable -,"

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Ok, I see your point. But still. I think that Tristan should be with Kiara from now on so that he can look after her."

"Tristan does a very good job of looking after her already. Honey, you need to go to bed. You're just getting aggravated and then you're going to start yelling even more, and then you're going to wake the Addison and the baby up. We'll discuss this tomorrow."

"Fine."

The next day, Hermione and Draco had decided to host a small get-together with their closest friends: Blaise and Mandy with their two sons Jacob and Daniel; Harry and Ginny with their two kids James and Lily; and Ronald and Luna with their daughter Abigail.

They were outside in the backyard – the adults talking while nursing some drinks, and the offspring in the pool.

"Blaise, my man, let's have a talk, shall we?" Draco said, pulling him aside. "Your son tries anything with my baby girl, and both of you are dead meat, got it?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Yes, Drake. You've got to calm down."

"Hey! You're my best friend, but don't tell me what to do when it comes to my daughter."

"Look Drake, I'm gonna tell you something, and you have to promise not to hit me."

"We'll see."

"They like each other. They're teenagers. It happens. Which you should know all too well. But I can assure you that Jacob will be a gentleman and will not try anything but to try and 'court' her, if you will."

"Fine. But remember my warning."

"HALEY!" Draco heard his wife screech, suddenly.

He turned around and saw Hermione hugging the girl in question. Draco quickly went over to the two of them.

"Hi Mum. Hi Dad." She said. After Draco and Hermione had gotten married, they had decided to officially adopt Haley. They had never forced her or told her to call them 'mum' or 'dad', but she started to of her own volition when she was old enough to understand the circumstances.

"Hales, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"I'm back in England for good. I'm going to settle down. No more traveling for me for a while."

"That's great, Haley!" Draco said enthusiastically. "We've missed you."

"I missed you guys too! How's the rest of the family?"

"They're…" Draco started.

"Growing up." Hermione continued. "Kiara needs advice from her older sister."

"I'll go talk to her then. We'll catch up later, Mum."

"Ok. Love you."

"Love you too."

Draco went over and put an arm around his wife's shoulders. "I'm glad she's back."

"Me too. It just wasn't the same without her, was it?"

"No, it definitely wasn't."

"She was the first to be a part of our family."

"Yeah. And I can't tell you how glad I am that she was."

**A/N: Oh my god. I can't believe it. It's done. This was the last chapter of Take Me or Leave Me. Please review!!**

**I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed, put me on Story/ author alert and even added this to their favorites. It means a lot to me that you actually read this story. I was definitely happy that my first ever fanfic got such great feedback. I love each and every one of my readers! Anyways, keep an eye out for my other stories! **

**Love,**

**dancinequestrian**

**Links for Hermione's engagement ring and wedding dress can be found on my profile page. **


	23. Author's Note

**Author's Note: I know the new chapter alert was a tease for you guys. I apologize for that. **

**I was wondering if anyone would be interested in making banners/graphics for this story. I would do it myself, but I have no idea how to. I would be eternally grateful if someone did make some! :) **

**Thank You!**

**Love,**

**Dancinequestrian**

**P.S. I'm working on editing this story. :)**


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